It is the American dream, I suppose, starting with nothing and working hard to build a successful business. Officially, our business opened its "doors" on September 11, 2010. It wasn't our intention to start on 9-11, it just happened to be when we got our state and local license approved. It's fitting, though, as the event that dramatically changed my life just so happened on September 11th, nine years earlier.

I was working in human resources for one of the major package delivery companies when the towers came down. I had no time to truly absorb the gravity of what had taken place, and honestly had no desire to. Our packages that normally shipped by air were grounded and no one could know for how long. An awful lot of package handlers called in to work or simply didn't show as it was rumored that terrorists might attack our shipping hubs. There was very little sleep for those of us trying to help get through this.

The truth is though, the long hours and stressful days that followed the attack were a welcomed distraction for me. It wouldn't last though. The images and audio of those that truly suffered on that day and the days that followed started filtering in to me. I was busy enough to keep from feeling it for a little while. Then it hit me. I'm guessing there are others like me that were stunned for days, maybe weeks and then broke down. It was maybe a week after the attack, another 3 hours of sleep and I was on my way back to work. In the car, on AM620 in Milwaukee, they played "I'll stand by you" by the Pretenders but throughout the song they included audio clips such as a man leaving a voicemail for his wife because he was on a floor above the crash and knew he wasn't going to make it down or the audio of a mother days after at ground zero begging the fireman to keep searching for her baby. It hit me, all of it, and I had to pull over I cried so hard. I joined the military, immediately.

Sure, it was less of a decision and more of an emotional, hyper-patriotic reaction but one that I will be proud of forever. I love this country with my whole heart and it did me a lot of good to serve it. I met the most beautiful girl on earth while I was in military "A" school in Pensacola, Florida. She was visiting her ex-college roommate who happened to be married to a class mate of mine. We were married in 2007 and I've never been happier.

Everything changed after September 11th, 2001 for you, for me, and for our country, forever. It's uncomfortable to say that my life is better because of the attack, but it is. I guess that's how we win against those that want to weaken us. If we cry forever about what happened they win. If we clean up and move on then, even though they hurt us, at least they don't win. If we allow what happened to bring us together and if we allow what happened to bring out the best in us and make us stronger-then we win.

Of course I wish it never happened and the last thing I would ever want to do is disrespect the heroes that this tragedy defined for us. The police and firemen that showed levels of courage that could not possibly be quantified and the military. I served five years on air craft carriers and believe that anyone who serves should be respected, but I never set foot in Iraq or Afghanistan and it's those men and women that I call heroes. There are many lives that were lost and many left to grieve whose lives are far worse. I guess what I'm saying is, I just know what I witnessed around the country and how it felt in the months that followed. I remember how many flags filled our neighborhoods and city streets. Do you remember how people worked together? People grieved together and healed together. We were all together.

These days we've slipped back into our groups. Ethnicity, religion, politics, or whatever divides us, we argue and complain. I remember though how we were in the months that followed September 11th, 2001. I take heart in the fact that this is who we truly are. Like brothers that bicker and fight but when one is in trouble, the other has their back because they are family. You know what is great about 9-11? You. What defines us is not how we act when things are fine, what defines us is how we act when tragedy happens, when everything is upside down, when faced with evil, when things are at their worst. What did you do when 9-11 happened? Well, you remember, and you should be proud of yourself and your country.