9/11 Stairclimb 2025: United We Remember

Yesterday. Saturday, September 13th 2025 was the date of Greensboro’s annual 9/11 Stairclimb which is hosted by the city every year during the week of the 9/11 anniversary, so naturally I attended. This year was my 5th year attending the Stairclimb and I have to say this was my best year attending so far. The 20 year anniversary of 9/11 back in 2021 was the first year I ever attended the Stairclimb thanks to my friend and former high school teacher Tara Pidgeon. I’ve gone every year since and though every year has been great, none have quite matched that first time going until this year.

I’m grateful to say that every year at the Stairclimb brings something new, mainly meeting good people, several of which have become good friends. I was hoping this year I’d get to see all of them together, but I knew those chances were slim because life is awfully busy. The people I was hoping would join me are my mentor Tara Pidgeon, my hero Jimmy Avuso who was a veteran of the New York fire department and was in the twin towers on 9/11, and Sarah Bishop, a young first responder who I made friends with during last year’s 9/11 Stairclimb.

Me and Sarah had made plans to attend it together over a month ago. I knew Jimmy would be there because he’s there every year with his wife and friends, but I didn’t think Tara would be able to make it because of mom duties but I told her beforehand that I hoped she could make it. So I get up on Saturday morning and suit up in my sweat pants and my 9/11 shirt with the famous quote “Let’s Roll” from 9/11 hero Todd Beamer, I wear this shirt every year. I also wore my 9/11 wristband which I got from the first Stairclimb I ever attended.

I arrived downtown and for the first time ever I easily found a parking space, which is nearly impossible in downtown Greensboro, so that was a treat. I made my way to the parking garage and was surprised to find a big crowd. I was honestly amazed at how many people were already and even more amazed knowing that more people were gonna show up. I was shocked because it seemed like every year since I went to that first big bang of a Stairclimb the crowd was getting a little smaller by the year, but this year something changed. It seemed like crowd was as big as it was the first time I ever attended.

After doing some brief looking around through this big crowd I finally spot Jimmy setting up and getting ready. We spotted each other and embraced as we’d been doing the past couple years. As I was waiting for Sarah to arrive I look around right behind me and in the growing crowd I surprisingly spotted Tara and her daughter Lyla and excitedly ran up to her. After we got her signed in I introduced her to Jimmy and he gave her a big hug. It really made me feel good seeing my mentor and my hero meet for the first time. I even joked how it was good I got those two New Yorkers together.

Right before the commencement ceremony began I took the time to make note of everyone who was there. It was of course a lot of civilian families, fire fighters, cops and other first responders in attendance, but it was the amount of high school kids and college kids in attendance that caught my attention. I have always hoped that the history and significance of 9/11 wouldn’t be lost on the younger generation and in these enthusiastic youngsters I knew it wouldn’t be. Jimmy even took the time to tell them his story and they all listened with interest.

As the commencement ceremony began my friend Sarah finally showed up with her friend, boyfriend and family in a nick of time and she and her boyfriend were both dressed to kill in their firefighter gear. It was then that the stairclimb began and Jimmy, Tara, Sarah and myself all began our ascension. As we began our 13 lap trek up and down this parking garage I had a great talk with Sarah’s boyfriend about my memories of 9/11. He and Sarah were born after 9/11 but like many young kids born after 9/11 they felt it’s impact, so he was very interested in what I had to share.

As we went up and down the parking garage the highschool kids and their band cheered us on at the bottom of the garage while also handing us countless bottles of water. One of the best parts in all of this was whenever I was getting tired of started to slow down, little Lyla would come grab me by the arm and cheer me on like “Joe come on, let’s go.”

When we completed the Stairclimb Sarah referred back to earlier in the week when she told me we had to recreate the picture from when we first met and we ended our climb by recreating that picture.

When I made it back to the bottom of the lot I saw the school kids taking a group photo and went up to all them to extend a big thank you for not only helping out with the Stairclimb, but for also making sure the memory of 9/11 is preserved for future generations.

As we all said our farewells to each other I realized that this was the best 9/11 Stairclimb I had been to in all my five years in going. The reason why is because it showed after all these years the history and significance of September 11th 2001 will forever be remembered.