Thirteen years is a long time.

Thirteen years ago today, the United States of America lost a great deal because the day now known simply as Sept. 11 rocked the world.

Nearly 3,000 lives were lost. Nearly 3,000.

For many years, the events of another murder, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, in general conversation and discussion, was often prefaced by the question "Do you remember where you were when ...?"

I know where I was when I heard about a plane hitting the Twin Towers in New York City.

Home from school for a break, I was vacuuming the family room in my parents' home in Upper Milford Township when the reports began.

Looking back, disbelief seemed to echo in the voices of news anchors as they broke into regularly scheduled programming with news too difficult to really quantify.

The World Trade Center had been struck by a plane. I remember turning off the vacuum.

Thirteen years later, we know 19 men hijacked four commercial jets, fuel tanks full, with intentions of deliberately crashing into carefully selected targets including the Pentagon, in Arlington County, Va., a government target in Washington, D.C., possibly the White House and The World Trade Center: symbols of defense, government and capitalism.

Within hours, 2,753 people at The World Center, 184 people at the Pentagon and 40 passengers and crew on Flight 93, which crashed near Shanksville, Pa., were gone. Gone.

I remember my stomach in knots about the whereabouts of my sister, a student at General Theological Seminary in the Chelsea section of New York City that awful day. She and some classmates planned to tour the city.

My parents and I tried to go about the business of the house until word came.

The three of us were so relieved when a short cellphone call came through later in the day. My sister and her classmates were at Chelsea Piers trying to help New Yorkers. She couldn't talk long, she said, but she was OK.

My parents and I were so lucky to get her call. So many families waiting for calls were not as fortunate. So many families waiting for calls.

On Sept. 11, the New York City Fire Department lost 343 brave firefighters. The New York City Police Department and New York City Port Authority lost 23 and 37 brave officers, respectively.

Thirteen years ago the world seemed to shift.

On the website for the National September 11 Memorial, Sept. 11 is described as "the largest loss of life resulting from a foreign attack on American soil and the greatest single loss of rescue personnel in American history."

Thirteen years ago.

In the days following, many of us wept. Many of us feared. Many of us were ready to face the enemy. A neighbor told me of her son, who left the military, expressing his willingness to return to service. Images of U.S. flags flying in New York City and Washington, D.C. filled television screens and condolences poured into the United States from people around the world.

Since then, long wars started and continue and more lives were lost in anger, fear and hate.

Osama bin Laden, the de facto mastermind behind the attacks, is now dead. Coverage of terror attacks, unfortunately, now seem part of our regular media diet.

But there are positives.

David Silver, a professor friend who now teaches in California, launched the September Project germinated in part by reaction to Sept. 11, encouraging community involvement through libraries.

Events, such as an interfaith soccer game, featuring players of Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist faiths, was played Sept. 1 in Rome and endorsed by Pope Francis.

And, closer to home, Community Heroes Day will take place at the Emmaus Public Library.

The late Martha Vines started the program as a way for children to meet first responders before an emergency happens.

The event starts at 6 p.m. Martha Vines, a family friend since the days her late husband and my father carpooled to work at Air Products, Trexlertown, always was concerned for her young readers and their understanding of the world.

The world is different since Sept. 11, 2001. Very different.

When you have a moment, please remember those lost 13 years ago.

On the website for the National September 11 Memorial, suggested remembrances include observing moments of silence when the planes struck their targets in New York City and Washington, D.C. and when Flight 93 plummeted to the ground outside Shanksville; joining in the reading of names of those lost; tolling bells; or participating in your community as part of a national day of service to honor the lives of those lost in the attacks. Flags will fly at half-staff.

Thirteen years is a long time. However, we must muddle through as best we can to honor those now lost to us in New York City, Arlington, Va., Shanksville and overseas.

April Peterson

editorial assistant

East Penn Press

Salisbury Press