In the days following Sept. 11, 2001, as the shock wore off and everyone learned the horrific details, one revelation was absolutely shocking to South Floridians: the Islamist terrorist hijackers who flew jets into the World Trade Center towers had been living and training among us.
Read more Bodycam shows aftermath of DUI crash that killed elderly man sleeping inside house
The folks who lived on Jackson Street in Hollywood had no idea they had notorious, mass-murdering neighbors. Sixteen years ago, a developer tore down the dilapidated apartment building in which Mohammed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi shared a unit. The two men also took flight simulator lessons at Opa Locka Airport, and they ate at Shuckums on Young Circle the night before the attack, which killed nearly 3,000 people, including Joshua Rosenblum.
“I lost my youngest son, he was 27, and the next day, he was supposed to leave with his fiancée to Bermuda because they were being married there,” said Sue Rosenblum, Joshua’s mother.
A quarter century later, Rosenblum still lives in the same Coral Springs home. She has a framed American flag, which has the names of all the victims, hanging on her wall, reminding her of a day she can never forget.
I asked her to describe her emotional journey from then to now.
“Well, I think after a while, it’s not that things heal, I think initially, it’s like a very sharp edge, and then as time goes on it becomes a little more rounded, it’s not as intense,” Rosenblum said. “I was convinced I was going to spend the rest of my life just being angry and upset and my eldest son, who happens to be a rabbi, said, ‘Mom, do what you want, but remember, you have four other children,’ and he was so right.”
She showed us a quilted pillow with a picture of Joshua on it. A gift from a stranger, and the type of gesture, she says, that made healing possible.
Read more Serena Williams surprises loyal fans with tickets to the 2026 U.S. Open
“To begin with, right after 9/11, the whole world was together, at least the States were, and I received phone calls, and I received – we didn’t have texts back then – letters, from people I didn’t even know. I don’t know how they found me, and I thought that was absolutely amazing; it was like the whole world was mourning with all of us,” Rosenblum said.
They never found Joshua’s remains, but his name is on the Sept. 11 memorial in New York and his picture is in the museum.
“This is President Obama at the museum, and he happened to be standing right in front of a picture of Josh,” Rosenblum said, describing a picture from President Barack Obama’s visit to the museum. “It’s just hard to believe it’s 25 years.”
From a spirit of unity and shared purpose after the attacks, Rosenblum says the nation has become far too divided.
“I just wish we had more kindness. Why can’t we be more kind to one another?” Rosenblum pleads.
Read more ICE arrests reached record highs this summer as enforcement tactics shifted