This month marks seventeen years since the attacks of September 11^th.  

For many, the memory of that awful day is fading, but my memories are vivid down to my shirt and tie.  The day started out so bright, beautiful, and refreshing and  ended so dark and frightening.  September is also National Preparedness Month when preparedness experts try to catch your attention to prepare for another, inevitable, dark and frightening day.

Every year since the attacks, I choose to honor three fragments that create my memory of that day.  First, I honor the life of my friend and colleague Colleen Fraser who died on Flight 93 with those other selfless heroes who may have saved the Capitol or the White House or thousands of other lives.  Colleen was a fighter, and she was in good company that morning fighting to take back that plane.

Second, I remember the lives of the 343 FDNY firefighters who died that day.  Most knew going into those buildings that some of them would not come out alive.  They knew this instinctively by virtue of their experience and profession.  They still went in with police officers and EMS personnel to save those who could not save themselves.  They went in to save people with disabilities.

And, yes, thirdly, I remember those people with disabilities who died that day in those towers.  I was not     watching the horror on television that morning.  I had a meeting at 10 o’clock and during that meeting I spoke of Colleen and wanting to connect her with someone.  Later, someone told me of the collapse.  My very first thought was that many firefighters had just died; my immediate second thought was that many people with disabilities had died as well.

How many people with disabilities died that morning may never be known.  We do know that the corporations and government agencies housed in those towers hired people with disabilities.  We do know that some people with disabilities made it out because they had a plan, their company had a plan, or some colleague or friend took the initiative to get them out.   We do know that others stayed behind not wanting to burden friends, not wanting to get in the way, or just having unwavering faith that the FDNY would get to them.  We also know that loyal friends stayed behind with them.  We know that some people with disabilities who stayed were rescued but many died with their rescuers.

Every victim of these attacks needs to be remembered and honored.  I feel a personal duty to honor Colleen, The 343, and those almost nameless people with disabilities who stayed behind.

Let us all remember the victims and the heroes of September 11, 2001, by getting prepared and staying  prepared.  You never know how a bright, beautiful, and refreshing day may end.   Check out my Emergency Preparedness Desk page on this site by clicking here.

This year will be the 23rd time in my life that I cast a vote for a member of Congress.  I remember back in 1972 being forced to vote two weeks ahead of time by absentee ballot because my polling place was not accessible.  I remember in 1992 being challenged at the poll because of disability, and I remember the empowerment I felt by calling a state hotline while at the poll to “fix” the situation to my satisfaction.

Times have changed for people with disabilities in terms of voting ease.  Now most polling places and polling booths are accessible. Voting early by mail is encouraged for everyone in many states.  Yes, there are still barriers to voting—especially in other states, but there is no excuse for any person with a disability not to vote. Nothing about us without us, right?

But I want to talk about something besides voting. I want to talk about people with disabilities getting involved with political campaigns.  I have done it twice when I first starting out.  I worked on a statewide Republican campaign for governor and a county campaign for a Democrat.  They both lost, and that may be a commentary of the type of person I support. 

Nevertheless, these campaigns opened doors for me, and, more importantly, these candidates, their staffers and supporters gained a greater understanding of my needs as a person with a disability.  This was a great asset in advocating on disability issues through these same people over the years.

“Nothing about us without us” can take many forms at all levels of government.  But we need to be involved to make this come true!  We need to be involved from the start by voting!  Before we go to public meetings, before we demonstrate, before we sit-in, before we get arrested, WE NEED TO VOTE!!!  The rest is meaningless unless we exercise our right to vote. 

To paraphrase our great leader Justin Dart: We need to vote as if our lives dependent on it!   We all need to vote on November 6!