🌿I remember that morning so vividly

This Friday marks 25 years since 9/11. And like many others, I remember that morning so vividly.

I was 32, living in Arlington, VA, a few miles from the Pentagon. I was on maternity leave, and my daughter was a tiny baby.

It was a beautiful, crisp, bright-blue-sky morning.

I was sitting on our bed when suddenly our entire house shook. It felt like a hurricane hit. Except…hurricanes don’t exactly hit Northern Virginia.

It was the aftermath of American Airlines Flight 77 crashing into the Pentagon.

It was 9:37am and then everything just seemed to stop.

This was 2001. No smartphones. No texting. The internet wasn’t what it is today.

My first husband worked in D.C. and rode his bike to work. The bridges into Virginia were now shut down, and I had no idea what was happening or when he would make it home.

My parents couldn’t reach us and I couldn’t reach anyone.

There was only the TV. And so, you just watched in disbelief as the world unraveled.

I remember friends from college who worked in the World Trade Center. I remember hearing the devastating news about Cantor Fitzgerald, which lost 658 employees that morning.

It was surreal and sad and frightening and horrible…all at the same time. And I mostly remember how quickly normal disappeared.

Maybe that’s what stays with me 25 years later. That we don’t get to know when life is going to change.

But...we can make sure that if it does, the people we love aren’t left trying to figure everything out.

Where are the important documents? Who knows what accounts you have? Who could make decisions for you?

That’s not about living in fear. It’s about giving yourself—and the people you love—a little peace of mind.

We can’t predict tomorrow. But we can prepare for the possibility that it might bring something we never, ever expected.

Happy Wednesday...and may we never forget. ❤️ 

Lisa White Burns

Founder of Her Path, LLC

Financial Wellness for Women

🪙🪙 My Two Cents...

Have you RSVPd for my estate planning event?

September 17 at 6PM: Sara Lyons and I will come together for an evening focused on estate planning, preparedness, and peace of mind. At the Free Shop in Ambler. Click here for more details and to grab your spot.

National 401(k) Day this year is September 10, 2026

Designed to raise awareness about retirement planning and encourage American workers to check in on their nest eggs, evaluate their financial goals, and utilize employer-matching contributions. Read more here.

September is National College Savings Month 

Named for a section of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), 529 plans are tax-deferred savings plans designed to help pay for college expenses. Learn more here.

🌿. . . I created this "Wednesday Wisdom" blog to provide women-focused content that includes tips, tools, and my own (yes, sometimes crazy!) stories to inspire you to grow personally and financially. If you’d like to be part of this journey, please join at www.herpathbegins.com/subscribe. Thanks for being here with me!