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Looking back on the moment I knew 9/11 was an especially dark day for America...and shining a light on a grassroots group that's turned historically bad lemons into LemonAid since 2002.

Twenty-two years ago, it wasn’t television or radio that gave me the first inkling of the terrible terrorist attacks on the United States.

Instead, it was through a pair of e-mail alerts from The New York Times.

When I checked my e-mail that morning, this was the first missive I saw:

Tuesday, September 11, 2001 -- 8:50 AM EST
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Plane Crashes Into World Trade Center

A plane crashed into Manhattan's World Trade Center this morning, causing heavy damage and fire to several floors.

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In the absence of any details, I envisioned a single-engine plane and a tragedy that was nowhere near the scope of what had occurred. That illusion was shattered a few minutes later when another e-mail arrived:

Tuesday, September 11, 2001 -- 9:04 AM EST
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A second plane has crashed into the World Trade Center towers, according to the Associated Press.

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That was it: 16 words, in one simple declarative sentence.

Without a doubt, I thought, something really bad is happening. But the moment’s gravity wasn't signaled by a second plane crash; as you can see, the reed-thin alert offers no detail about the size of either plane.

Instead, what set off alarms in my mind was the headline. Or, more accurately, the lack of one. A New York Times editor was so get-this-out-there-frazzled that he or she failed to insert a headline before clicking "send."

Over the last 40 years, I have written thousands of headlines: some really good ones, a bunch of OK ones, and some forgettable ones. But never have I failed to write a headline altogether.

Strange as it may seem, that was the moment the magnitude of the day’s horribleness started setting in.

I have many other memories from that day. Looking back is natural and important. But I also appreciate how so many have sought to look around to breathe life into others in need, to wring good out of our collective and personal grief.

Locally, one example is a block of families in the neighboring community of River Forest who have taken the “turning lemons into lemonade” saying into a fundraising anthem. The video below tells their story.

So far, they have raised over $500,000 for 24 organizations.

A partial list of organizations supported by LemonAid, as of 2018.

For those who are local, it all happens on the 700 block of Bonnie Brae Avenue (aka Honorary LemonAid Place), just a few blocks west of Harlem Avenue. This year, the 22nd annual LemonAid fundraiser is on Monday from 3-7 p.m.

And for those who don’t live nearby, you can make a contribution through its website, 9-11Lemonaid.com.