The hard part is to put it in perspective

This week, we'll stop arguing with each other about politics just long enough to mark the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. This year marks 25 years since the attack, and I've told even more people about where I was on 9/11, even though none of them asked.

This week, the podcast is looking at the anniversary (The podcast page has a handsome new look, but it's still available on Apple and Spotify!).

This weekend, firefighters from across Texas and from several other states climbed to the top of the Comerica Bank building... twice.

That matched the 110 stories they would have climbed at the World Trade Center. They were wearing the names and pictures of 343 firefighters, 70 police officers and nine paramedics who died in New York.

One of the organizers told me, "Every single one of those spots gets filled within minutes" when sign-ups start.

A New York firefighter joined the group this year. Joseph Esposito's own brother, cousin and 11 members of his company died on September 11. He said the firefighters who died "didn't make it to the top, but today, they do."

He also had a good message for a period where we seem to spend most of our free time arguing with strangers about politics online.

"That day was the worst of mankind, but yet, I saw the best of mankind when everybody got together and started helping us. The country came together. It was a good feeling, but unfortunately, it had to come to that."

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Some of the organizers had set up newspaper headlines from the days after the attacks. People could also wrote out memories of where they were that day. I talked to a teacher who says that can help kids learn about the significance even if they're too young to remember themselves.

She said she remembered hearing about the first plane but thought it might have just been a small plane that veered off course. When she got to school, all the kids wanted to watch on TV, so she turned it on just as the second plane it.

She said teachers all went into the hall and just started staring at each other, not sure what to say. She said she had heard her parents talk about Pearl Harbor, but that was the first time she understood what it meant to be attacked. She thought about how the people who died on September 11 might have left dishes in the sink that morning or been looking forward to plans the next weekend.

She also said she remembered being in school when John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and some kids then cheered.

She says she hopes the stair climb can show younger generations that may not remember September 11 we need to hold on to what makes us united.

I shoved my microphone in the face of some firefighters who were getting ready to start the climb. I talked to a firefighter from Commerce, Texas who Dad said he was glad to see so many people come out this weekend--not just first responders but families just coming to watch.

He said he was four years into his career on September 11 and "just sat there watching TV like everyone else." Except when the first tower fell, he said he was also thinking, "How many firefighters did we just kill?"

He said it was an honor to be at the stair climb in Dallas, saying people need to be there, people need to remember what those firefighters did. He said he wanted to instill that message in his son. I suspect he was successful because his son is now a firefighter in Canton, Texas and was suiting up right next to him for the climb.

But he had the same message that he hopes events like that can show kids the importance of staying united.

We had just come out of the 2000 presidential election where hanging chads threatened to divide us, but we showed after the attacks we'll still come together in a crisis.

"But it's kind of sad that's what it takes to remind us," he explained.

He also said the stair climb can show any life is worth remembering, and it can show kids how many people made the ultimate sacrifice. He said he hopes people remember firefighters, police and paramedics are putting themselves at risk like that every day, whether they're running toward a terrorist attack or just trying to direct traffic.