We're not falling to the ground in an instant like the towers did, but it's like the most important parts of us are coming apart, the foundation just crumbling away beneath us.

I see a sign for a bathroom and rush toward it. It feels stupid to be thinking about something as ordinary as going to the bathroom right now, but people still have to pee, still have to cry, still have to be human, no matter what else is happening.

People do terrible things. People do beautiful things. It's against the black backdrop of evil that the shining light of good shows the brightest. We can't just focus on the darkness of the night, or we'll miss out on the stars.

[W]hen something terrible happens, all we have left is choice. You can fill that awful void inside you with anger, or you can fill it with love for the ones who remain beside you, with hope for the future.

Friends are sometimes the only thing that keep us from plunging into the abyss. But you have to reach for them, and they have to be there on the other side of the cliff reaching out to you too.