Yesterday was a day for remembering.

It was about remembering the nearly 3,000 people who were killed on Sept. 11, 2001. It was about remembering the brave police and firefighters who ran into two buildings that were engulfed in flames, only to be tragically buried in the rubble when the buildings collapsed.

It was a day to remember the friends and family who were lost that day when all they did was go to work. It was a day to remember the passengers of Flight 93, who had resolved themselves of their impending peril and fought the hijackers who eventually crashed the plane in an empty field.

While Sept. 11, 2001, will likely forever be known as one of the most horrific American tragedies, some good did come from that day.

The lives that were lost served as a reminder that we’re never as safe was we think we are. It rekindled American patriotism the likes of which hasn’t been seen since World War II. It brought to light many opportunities for our country to bolster national security, which even trickled down to the local level.

If we can’t take an event like 9/11 and learn from it – learn how to better protect and defend ourselves – then those people who died in the madness would have died in vain.

I think many improvements have been made nationally, and I think there are still many more to come and many more that are needed. If you think back over the past seven years, there hasn’t been another major attack. Several others have been thwarted.