ORLANDO, Fla. — Communities across the country are honoring the victims of the Pulse nightclub mass shooting nine years later.
“I was washing my hands at a bathroom sink in an adjacent room to the main dance floor,” said Brandon Wolf.
There’s so much Wolf remembers about June 12, 2016.
WATCH: Advocates and survivors remember Pulse shooting victims nine years later
“I remember the first sound of gunshots, the hair standing up on the back of my neck,” said Wolf. “I remember people rushing into the bathroom debating about whether to run or hide.”
Wolf survived the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, but he lost two of his best friends that day.
“My best friends, Drew and Juan, were the best of us,” said Wolf. “I think what broke my heart when they were stolen from us in 2016 is that I was worried that other people would never get to experience them like I knew them.”
It’s been nine years since a gunman opened fire, killing 49 and wounding dozens more.
It’s a day Wolf thinks reshaped an entire community.
“For me, I think nine years is one about reflecting on and remembering my friends, the people who were stolen from us, getting grounded in my why, and it’s also a reminder to recommit to the fight ahead,” said Wolf. “We knew that progress wouldn’t be linear, certainly it hasn’t been, but it is an opportunity for me to recommit to the work that needs to be done.”
Advocates said the work is far from over.
“We are seeing more hateful rhetoric that spurs violence,” said Nadine Smith.
ABC Action News sat down with Smith, the Executive Director of Equality Florida.
“We remember those lives taken, and we also remember the promise made to honor them with action, to end gun violence, to bring sensible gun laws, but most fundamentally, to uproot the hatred that is at the heart of these murders,” said Smith.
Smith said people can #HonorThemWithAction by reaching out to people, having conversations, and listening with an open mind and heart.
“Speak out against the kinds of hateful rhetoric that make the LGBTQ community an easy target,” said Smith.
Years later, advocates haven’t lost sight of the victims, promising their memories will never fade.
“We have to get past this era of seeing each other as the other or the other team or some adversarial ideology,” said Wolf. “We have to see each other as neighbors, as family members, as friends.”
Pasco County woman trying to rebuild mobile home after hurricanes
"I cried, of course, because I've worked very hard getting it nice, which has been difficult for me since I lost my husband and being alone,” Kelly Welty said.
Welty's mobile home lost its roof during Hurricane Milton. She said it was the only one in the Buena Vista community to get totaled by a tornado.
