Every year I dust this thread off, mainly for two reasons, first and foremost to honor the memory of Jim who died and was the last of the bodies removed that were able to be identified. He died with another worker trying to carry a woman in a wheelchair to safety down the mezzanine steps in the lobby. Their bodies were discovered as the removed the last of the debris from the basement. He died as he lived, doing his job as a Port Authority Police Chief.
The other reason I repost is to thank all the folks who took part in making the knife we gave to Mary and subsequently Bobby when his mother passed away just a few years later from a broken soul. Bobby is a Marine over in the sandbox still cleaning up. He came out a few weeks ago for a week and went right back to a place he can't say and doin' a job he can't talk about. God Bless you Bobby and Thank You.
Every year I build up to this date because of the impact it had on my life and the lives of my friends and family many of whom worked near or in the Trade centers at one time or another and who worked there on September 11th 2001. I write it out because I don't want to forget, with all the issues with my wife and her back surgery and my upcoming shoulder surgery tomorrow I committed that mortal sin. For a split second I forgot, for a split second I thought about my own insignificant problems and for that I'm ashamed.
I apologize to everyone who lost anyone that day, as the years go by we shouldn't accept the story as history, we should always be angry, we should never forget or forgive. I'm not talking politics or religion, I talking about the basic tenant that we should never put a life above another life, all life matters.
Never forget, always remember, smoke and prayers up from NEPA on this day of sadness. We miss you Jim and Mary, go get 'em Bobby.