Fourteen years ago today our entire world as we knew it changed forever.

The effects of Sept. 11, 2001, still linger in the hearts and minds through every community across the United States on this hallowed day that we remember when thousands of men, women and children met their demise at the hands of a group of people that most of us had never heard of.

The impact 9/11 had on people varies widely — from those who stood in the streets of New York City with their eyes to the sky as an airplane barreled into a skyscraper to those who heard about it from far away hours after it happened.

Both viewpoints left disbelief and shock resonating in minds and hearts.

The first time I heard anything about the attacks, I was making my way to history class as a freshman in high school in Buckingham. I had on my backpack, and I was turning the corner headed up the stairs to history class when I overheard an upperclassman say that the nation was under attack.

Our nation under attack? I’d never heard someone utter those words before. I was dumbfounded, telling myself that it couldn’t be true.

I also remember watching live coverage of the aftermath that afternoon as I sat in my hospitality class waiting to go home.

Many like me can remember what they were doing and where they were when they heard the news from a colleague or over the radio or on the TV.

As millions watched the live coverage of the early events, our world changed before our eyes.

Not only did we lose hundreds of our brothers and sisters — two of which were from Farmville — when those airplanes hit the Twin Towers, but I think each of us lost a small part of ourselves because of the impact the incidents had on the world, but more so on Americans.

Filling in that missing piece hasn’t been easy for many, including those who lost loved ones in the tragedy. It’s a process though that can be aided by flying an American flag on your front porch, thanking a veteran for his or her service to our nation or attending a local Veterans Day or Memorial Day service.

These actions show our unity as members of a collective group of communities bound together by the same principles and standards of hope, love and forgiveness that we all must embrace to be whole and healed.

JORDAN MILES is the managing editor of Farmville Newsmedia, LLC. His email address is jordan.miles@farmvilleherald.com.