The 10-hour drive from my mom’s house in Lexington, Virginia to our house in the Toronto nosebleeds is a route we take fairly frequently these days. We always take photos of the “Virgnia is for lovers” sign and we have discovered that Pennsylvania is a gigantenormous state and we make the same “this looks *just* like Toronto” joke when we drive through the gorgeous mountains and we laugh that our drive through Maryland is from one side of a tiny bridge to another.

Each time we drive past the highway signs for the flight 93 Memorial in Stoystown, Pennsylvania—and whisper out loud that we wish we had the time to stop.

A few weeks ago we made the time. The kids were tired, hungry, cranky, you know, kids.

But we stopped.

So we could teach the kids about heroes. 

We will never forget September 11th, 2001.

And we will honor the heroes and bravery and sacrifice by teaching our kids, by showing them.