NEW YORK — It was a sunny and beautiful morning Saturday — the same clear skies on the same day in 2001, as the names of those who died were read aloud to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

“And my husband Joseph Reina Jr. Twenty years feels like an eternity, but yet it still feels like yesterday. Until we meet again, my love, rest in peace,” Lisa Reina said at the reading of the names ceremony at the World Trade Center site.

“And my father Keith E. Coleman. Not a day goes by that I don't think about my father and the horrible way that he was taken from me,” Vaughn Coleman said. “I think he worked so hard, he deserved to raise his children and be with his wife, but cowards took him from me.”

For some, memories of others is all they have. Babies not yet born at the time of the attacks are now fully grown.

“And my father, Jason Matthew Coffey, and my grandfather, Daniel Michael Coffey,” Rosemary McDonald said. “Even though I never got the chance to meet either of you, I know there are two angels in heaven watching over me and our family.”

“And my uncle, Firefighter Christopher Michael Mazzillo. I know you’re with us every day, watching over us. And even though I never met you in person, I still miss you a lot,” Keira Yarosz. “Mom always tells me all the crazy fun things you did, and I’m sure if you were here I’d probably be doing them with you.”

Last year’s reading of the names was scaled back due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but this year’s ceremony proceeded as normal. Performances by Bruce Springsteen and Chris Jackson followed moments of silence. President Joe Biden, former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, and other elected leaders were in the crowd as 9/11 families reflected on the days and years following the attack.

Anthoula Katsimatides’s brother John worked on the 104th floor of Tower 1 when he died.

“When I look back on these last couple of years, I find myself thinking about September 12th and everything that happened after that, when thousands of us became members of a club we never signed up for,” Katsimatides said.

With 20 years passed, the message is still the same:

“Never forget. God bless America, god bless New York and god bless all the first responders that gave their lives that day,” said Brendan McCabe, whose father died on 9/11.

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