09/11/2026
It’s hard to believe 25 years have passed since September 11, 2001.
Today, Kevin, the owner of Grace Home Cleaning, is sharing his personal story of that day, along with his hope that the sense of love, unity, and pride in being an American that he remembers seeing in the weeks after 9/11 is still alive.
"September 11th is certainly a day I will never forget. Back then, I was a field service technician, married with four kids, and we lived in Colorado Springs.
When I traveled, my wife, Mary, took care of the home and the kids. Her only support would be neighbors and friends. I had flown out there a couple of weeks before, and I was helping Intel start up a chip manufacturing plant in Marlboro, MA, right outside of Boston. The airport I flew into was one of the airports the terrorists used.
The Saturday before September 11th, my brother Tom and his family, who lived in Allentown, PA, came to meet me. I had never been to Manhattan, NY, so he and his sons wanted to show me around. We met right outside of Manhattan and took the subway in.
Ironically, Tom said, “Kev, let’s go to the top of the Twin Towers so you can see the city.”
I told Tom, “It’s okay. I want food, and I want to see Times Square. I would rather see it with Mary and my kids.”
I never thought about how things would have been different if we had gone up to see the Twin Towers.
September 10th was nothing out of the ordinary, and it was actually one of the most enjoyable times I had traveling. I think being close to family and the people at the place I was working made it so enjoyable. They were some of the most enjoyable folks I had ever worked with.
I was also pretty excited because that Friday after work, I was driving to northern New York to go salmon fishing with Tom and his two sons.
Tuesday, September 11th, started out as any other day. Another technician and I were working in a basement. The area we were in had no signal for my pager, and my cellphone was in my computer bag back in the office. So, there was no communication whatsoever.
I’m not sure what time it was, but we decided to take a coffee break, probably around 10 a.m. I’m not too sure. By then, both towers had been hit, but Tower One hadn’t fallen yet.
By the time we got back to our desks, my pager had at least a dozen 911 messages, meaning “Call me now!” They were from Mary and my brother.
I grabbed my cellphone, and there were messages from not only Mary and my brother, but my mom too. I listened to my brother’s message, and he was crying. I had never seen or heard my older brother cry. He said, “Kevin, please call me right away.”
I started to freak out.
I called him, and I wasn’t sure what to think. He explained what had happened and that all flights had been canceled and no one was allowed to fly.
While I was trying to collect my thoughts, Tom said, “Oh man, Tower One is going down.”
I told Tom, “I need to call Mary.”
We hung up, and I called Mary. I just remember how scared she was that something had happened to me. I reassured her that I was okay, but neither one of us had experienced anything like this before. Being so far from home really stunk, and just hearing how scared Mary was was so difficult.
After talking to Mary, I went back to my hotel to watch the news and eat lunch. It was so brutal watching the people who were trapped in the towers.
The following weekend, Tom and I met back up and went down to see the devastation in Manhattan. I remember seeing business owners, firefighters, police officers—everyone was just devastated.
In particular, I remember passing a female firefighter. She had to have just finished searching Ground Zero. Her face had the raccoon eyes from the soot and dust. All Tom and I could do was tell her how sorry we were.
When I was finally able to return home a couple of weeks later, I just remember hugging Mary and the kids.
Man, I did not want them out of my sight.
After that day, it was the beginning of, “I am not leaving my family anymore.” For two additional years, I searched for a job at home. Every trip after that, my heart sank every time I left home.
Alan Jackson has always been my family’s favorite. When he came out with the song “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning),” we always reminisce about what happened that day.
My family was very lucky that day. The poor people of the Twin Towers, the rescue workers, the residents of Manhattan and the surrounding area, the people on the airplanes that went down—and most of all, America—experienced so much pain that I will never forget.
On a good note, though, I do remember that America forgot about color, politics, and hate. For a couple of weeks, there was so much love, and it seemed like everyone was proud to be an American.
That is the one thing I wish would come back stronger." - Kevin Smith | GHC Owner
