My now fiance lost his brother in the Twin Towers tragedy on 9/11 seventeen years ago. I stayed home from work in order to be with him today, since he takes this day off from work each year.

We watched and relived the tragedy on TV this morning. The planes hitting, the smoke, the fire, and seeing the shock and terror in people's ashen faces.

I am crying as I write this. My compassion for his loss is immense, and I wish I knew what to say to him. The most I feel I can do right now is hold his hand, hug him and tell him how much I love him and how sorry I am for his great loss and suffering. I cannot even imagine what it would be like to lose someone this way.

He cries uncontrollably sometimes, whenever 9/11 comes up in the news or on social media. It's just horrible, and I feel horrible for him.

On this day, I want to honor his brother's life and all the lives of those who were lost, as well as their families and loved ones who suffered an enormous loss.

I also want to say how enraged it all makes me feel at terrorism. It's just absolutely disgusting, it makes me ill.

I am not writing this to spark a political discussion, however. I am writing this post because of my own deep sadness and horror over the whole insane thing. I don't know how to manage this or how to be there for him exactly, but this day is about him and his family and all other families who have suffered through 9/11.