25 YEARS LATER: FAITH AMID THE FEAR

Cookeville woman recalls being in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, and the peace that carried her home

Twenty-five years have passed since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but for those who lived through that morning, certain memories remain as vivid as ever.

Many Americans remember where they were when they first heard the news. For Diane Roland, now executive director of Next Step for Life, those memories are especially personal. She was in New York City that morning, staying at a Marriott near the World Trade Center.

Roland had traveled to the city with friends to attend the U.S. Open. She was getting ready for a day of tennis when the unthinkable happened.

As New York absorbed the horror of the attacks, its normally bustling streets became eerily quiet. Roland remembers lifting her camera and capturing photographs of a completely empty Times Square, an image she has never forgotten.

Back home in Tennessee, Roland’s husband, Dave, received a chilling message from someone who knew she was in New York.

“Your wife won’t be coming home today,” the person told him.

With flights grounded across the country, Dave rushed to pick up their children from school. They had already seen the news and were terrified because they knew their mother was in New York.

When Roland was finally able to reach her husband, she asked him to help her find a way home. At one point, a friend even suggested buying a car simply to get out of the city.

Eventually, the group secured a limousine, an unusual but available option amid the nationwide travel shutdown, and began the long journey back to Tennessee.

They passed through Pennsylvania, not far from the site where United Airlines Flight 93 had crashed after passengers and crew members fought back against the hijackers. Along the way, Roland and her friends encountered kindness in unexpected places, including an Ohio hotel that welcomed them to eat from its buffet when food was scarce.

Even in the middle of the fear, uncertainty and chaos, Roland remembers experiencing a deep and unshakable peace.

“One of my friends told me, ‘I saw the peace you had, and I didn’t have it,’” Roland recalled.

That moment helped her friend begin her own journey of faith and develop a relationship with God.

For Roland, it became another reminder that even during life’s darkest hours, God’s presence can shine through, touching hearts, changing lives and revealing what people are created to do.

Every year since 2001, Roland and the friends who were with her in New York gather for lunch on Sept. 11. Together, they remember where they were, the friends who walked through the experience beside them and the way the country came together in the days that followed.

Twenty-five years later, their annual gathering continues.

Roland’s story is one of fear, perseverance and, ultimately, faith. It is also a reminder that the events of Sept. 11 were not merely distant images on television screens. The attacks touched families and communities across America, including here at home.

As a new generation learns about that day through photographs, recordings and the stories of those who witnessed it, experiences such as Roland’s help preserve both the history of Sept. 11 and the personal lessons that emerged from it.

Twenty-five years later, America remembers the lives lost, the heroes who answered the call and the faith that carried people through one of the darkest days in the nation’s history.

Editor’s note: This story was originally published digitally by the Highlands Insider in September 2025. In recognition of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, we are honored to share Diane Roland’s story with our print readers.