Today is the 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, and I want to share a quick story with you.

Before my career in embroidery, I was an electrician for the Port Authority of NY/NJ. I worked there from the time I was 19 until I was 26. My father worked there too. Between us we were in just about every Port Authority facility there was, from the airports to the World Trade Center. I was there for the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993. By the time of the second attack I had already left, and my father retired a few years after that.

But the story doesn't stop there.

On the morning of September 11th, I was in my embroidery shop with my mother, who was with me every day back in the early days of my company. My sister Melissa worked in the World Trade Center plaza.

Friends called and told us to turn on the news. Like everyone else in the country, we watched the first plane hit. Our first thought was my sister. We tried calling and couldn't get through — all the cellular service was down. Then we watched the second plane hit. Still nothing.

We didn't hear from her until 5 o'clock that evening. She was okay. She had been running late for work that morning, and by the time she came up out of the subway it was total chaos. She walked over the Brooklyn Bridge to safety with thousands of other people.

My brother-in-law Todd was one of the first responders on the cleanup at the site. Melissa never wanted to work in the city again after that, so she came to work for me alongside my mother. A few years later she reconnected with a high school boyfriend, got engaged, and moved to Charlotte. I followed her down here, and I'm still here today.

Her day ended differently than it did for so many people. America changed forever on 9/11/2001. Anyone who lived through it will never forget it, and no one ever should.

This is a break from our regular programming. It's just a personal story I felt like I had to tell.

I'm giving everyone a free collection today: Patriotic Gnomes. Hopefully these guys can put a smile on somebody's face on a day like this.

Next week we'll be back to our regular program. We have new collections and articles coming, plus an exciting announcement about the animals we sent that survey about.

Also, I will continue the Labor Day sale through the weekend. 

Never Forget,

Stephen

09/11/2026

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