25 Years Later: Remembering What Community Means

It is hard to believe that this September marks 25 years since the attacks of September 11, 2001.

For those of us who remember that day, in many ways it feels like it was just yesterday. We remember where we were. We remember watching the news and trying to understand what was happening. We remember calling family and friends and waiting to hear that they were safe.

Here in New York, many people didn’t experience September 11 only through a television screen. Some may remember looking out a window and seeing what was happening with their own eyes. Some saw the smoke in the distance. Some knew someone who worked in the World Trade Center or a first responder who headed toward the city that morning. For many families in the communities we serve, September 11 is personal.

We remember those who went to work that morning and never came home. We remember the first responders who ran toward danger when everyone else was trying to get away from it. And we remember the countless people whose lives were forever changed by what happened.

We should never forget them.

But when I think about September 11, I also think about what happened afterward.

For a period of time, we came together in a way that I am not sure we have experienced since.

We put aside a lot of the little things that divided us. We weren’t focused on politics or all of the things we disagreed about. We were Americans. We were neighbors. We were one community and one nation trying to take care of each other.

People checked on their neighbors. They donated blood. They volunteered. They brought food to firehouses. They supported families they didn’t know. People simply asked, “What can I do to help?”

There was something really special about that period of time. Not about what happened, obviously, but about how we responded to it and how we treated each other.

None of us would ever want to experience the tragedy that brought us together. But I do wish we could hold onto more of what came afterward.

Twenty-five years later, our country can feel very divided. We spend a lot of time focused on our differences. We argue about things that, in the bigger picture, sometimes really aren’t that important. And I think we can forget how quickly we are capable of putting those differences aside when someone needs us.

We did it then.

September 11 showed us that when it really matters, we can come together. We can help each other. We can take care of our neighbors. We can remember that there is much more that connects us than separates us.

We talk about community all the time in real estate. But a community isn’t just a collection of houses or a place on a map. It is the people who live there and how they treat one another.

As REALTORS®, we help people find a home and make what is often the largest financial decision of their lives. We are invited into people’s homes and into some of the biggest moments in their lives. There is a tremendous amount of trust that comes with what we do.

There is also vulnerability.

September is REALTOR® Safety Month, and when I think about safety, I think it goes beyond reminding someone to be aware of their surroundings or to tell someone where they are going. Those things are incredibly important, but I also think safety is about looking out for each other.

Real estate professionals meet new people every day. They travel to unfamiliar properties, hold open houses and often work alone. It can become such a normal part of the job that it is easy to forget there can be real risks involved.

Tell someone where you are going. Be careful when meeting someone you don’t know. Pay attention to your surroundings. Trust your instincts. If something doesn’t feel right, leave.

No listing, commission or transaction is worth putting yourself in an unsafe situation.

And REALTOR® safety is not just an individual responsibility. We have to look out for each other.

If you know a colleague is going somewhere alone, check in with them. Brokers, make safety part of the culture in your offices. Experienced REALTORS®, talk about safety with people who are new to the business. And no one should ever feel like they have to ignore their instincts because they might lose a client or a sale.

That’s part of being a community. Someone is paying attention. Someone will check on you. And when someone needs help, people show up.

We saw that in the days and weeks following September 11.

As we recognize the 25th anniversary, we will remember the people we lost and the first responders and countless others who showed extraordinary courage. But I also hope we remember how we treated one another afterward.

For a period of time, we stopped letting our differences define us. We put some of the little things aside. We came together as neighbors, as communities and as a nation.

I don’t think we need a tragedy to remind us how to do that.

We can look out for each other. We can check on a neighbor or a colleague. We can pay attention when someone needs us. We can put some of the little things aside and focus a little more on what we have in common.

And as REALTORS®, we can continue doing what so many of our members already do every day: show up for the communities we serve and look out for the people around us.

Maybe that is something each of us can carry forward from this 25th anniversary. Remember the people we lost. Honor the people who stepped up. But also remember who we were for one another in the days that followed.

We were there for each other.

Twenty-five years later, I hope we never forget that part either.

About the author: Grace Smith is the Chief Executive Officer of the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors, Inc.