Eleven years ago today I was starting into my second week as a Lower School principal at an all-girls independent school in Toronto. As the events of that morning unfolded, our entire school gathered in the gymnasium to pray – Christian prayers led by our Student President – a Muslim girl.  There was unity in our common humanity.

That morning changed the trajectory of my life in so many ways. My husband’s military career was forever altered and with it the places I would live and the people who would come into my life. And when I reflect back on that day I think about all the phone calls from inside the Towers and from the planes – people reaching out to their loved ones to tell them that they were loved. It was a profound moment of truth – about what is really important in life. Our relationships and the love we have for those in our lives matter way more than things or careers or retirement portfolios.

Recalling the events of that day as we do each year should make us pause to reflect on what our priorities are and remind us that life is for loving and putting good into this world.