I Believe in Angels – Remembering 9/11

By Sister Dearest Price

I believe in angels.

After 9/11, many spoke of seeing them, glimpses of bodies ascending into heaven, of giant angels guiding people out of the inferno. In the face of unspeakable tragedy, people testified of a holy presence, angels carrying souls, comforting the broken, and standing in the gap when the world shook.

The Bible reminds us in Psalm 91:11: “For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.” On that day, some felt those angels, watching, guiding, and lifting hearts even amid devastation.

But as we remember, let us not forget all the angels whose names deserve to be spoken:

• The schoolchildren who were on the planes, innocent lives lifted far too soon.

  
  
  
  

• The Black woman covered in soot, her face etched into history as an image of survival and resilience.

  
  
  
  

• The first responders, like my friend Chuck, who became part of the story, woven into the history, resilience, and devastation of that day.

  
  
  
  

I am a New Yorker. Always will be. And I will never forget the day history laid in our laps and made us look evil in the face.

9/11 was more than a moment. It was a reckoning with humanity, with grief, with the power of hate and yet also with the endurance of love, faith, and resilience.

We say, “Never Forget.” And we mean it.

Never forget the fallen.

Never forget the survivors.

Never forget the heroes.

Never forget the angels among us.

On this day, I pause, I grieve, I honor, and I remember.

Never forget 9/11.

The young victims, the angels of 9/11 include:

• Christine Lee Hanson: The youngest victim, who was 2½ years old and on United Flight 175 with her parents. 

• Asia Cottom: An 11-year-old on American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon. 

• Rodney Dickens: An 11-year-old on American Airlines Flight 77. 

• Bernard Brown: An 11-year-old on American Airlines Flight 77. 

• Dana Falkenberg: A 3-year-old on American Airlines Flight 77 with her older sister. 

• Zoe Falkenberg: Dana's 8-year-old sister, also on American Airlines Flight 77. 

• Juliana McCourt: A 4-year-old on United Flight 175. 

• David Gamboa: A 3-year-old on United Flight 175. 

  
  

  Marcy Boarders - Soot Lady