FAIRFAX, Ohio — While some 9/11 tributes on Friday were large, two Fairfax neighbors marked the 25th anniversary in a much simpler way.
For nearly two hours, Patty Stewart and Jason Hill stood along Wooster Pike — Hill holding a large American flag and Stewart holding a sign reading "Never Forget."
“I just wanted to be part of honoring that memory," Stewart said.
Like so many Americans, both Stewart and Hill remember where they were on 9/11.
Stewart said she was working downtown when the attacks began.
“It was a shock, and we were all wondering, ‘Is this really the truth? Could this really be happening?’" Stewart said.
WATCH: See how drivers responded to their 9/11 tribute along Wooster Pike
Hill, a Marine Corps veteran, said he was mowing grass at the time.
He said people nearby told him something had happened, but he said it wasn't until he got home that it really sank in.
“Then you get home, and you see it on TV, and it’s a whole different thing," Hill said. "You literally watch thousands of people die at one time. So, it was hard.”
For Hill and Stewart, the day isn't just about honoring the people who died. They said it's also about remembering what happened afterward.
“The best way to honor 9/11 is to remember how you were on 9/12," Hill said. "I think the country was never tighter than on 9/12.”
Hill and Stewart stood on the road from the time the first tower was hit to the moment the second tower fell.
As they drove by, drivers responded to their tribute with honks and waves.
“They’re recognizing why we’re here," Hill said. "They’re kind of saying hello, and they don’t know me, I don’t know them, it’s just people coming together.”
For Hill and Stewart, 25 years later, they said that message still matters.
“Don’t be divided so much," Hill said. "Everybody can have different beliefs and still be friends. Just be an American.”
