Twenty-five years later, I remember watching the attacks from my home in New York—and the grieving families I met when I volunteered in the days that followed.

Twenty-five years later, I still think about the conference I was supposed to attend at the World Trade Center—and the postcard that changed where I went that morning.

Twenty-five years later, I remember learning about the attacks from Seattle—and realizing how differently they felt when New York was still home.

A man tried to burn down his mosque in one of many post-9/11 hate crimes. Issa Qandeel confronted him, was shot at and chased him. The FBI wanted to make an example out of him, but Issa argued for a lesser sentence, citing the importance of forgiveness in Islam. I had the honor of interviewing him and telling his story in Colors NW Magazine on the one-year anniversary of the attacks of September 11.