My children were slightly startled and mildly embarrassed as their parents were moved to tears, standing before the reflecting pool at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan on a flawlessly sunny day in 2022, trying to explain the magnitude of what occurred in that spot on Sept. 11, 2001.

That sombre moment during an otherwise fun-filled family trip to New York City speaks to the lingering sorrow many Canadians feel recalling the Twin Towers collapsing live on television as the full the horror of the terrorist attack on the United States sunk in.

As the 25th anniversary of 9/11 dawns Friday, the emotional toll continues to reverberate. Canadians still mourn the senseless loss of life a quarter-century ago. But we are also now grieving the loss of a friendship we once thought was unshakable.

Most of us can probably pinpoint where we were at 8:46 a.m. on 9/11, when the first hijacked plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Centre. We certainly remember the minutes and hours that followed as that dark day unfolded.

Canadians felt our next-door neighbours’ shock, fear and devastation deeply and rushed to do everything we could to help.

We welcomed shell-shocked travellers disembarking from grounded planes when North American airspace was closed. More than 200 diverted flights carrying 33,000 travellers landed at Canadian airports, many in smaller communities.

The kindness shown by the people of Gander, N.L., population less than 10,000, in feeding and caring for 6,500 stranded........

© Montreal Gazette