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I was not in New York on 9/11. I used to live and work in NYC and moved in 1999. I decided to move New York about a year after I graduated from a university in Long Island, NY, since that is where everyone I went to school with seemed to be winding up. So, needless to say, I still had many ties to the city when I moved.

There are so many memories from 9/11/01, like calling my dad (who travels a lot) to see if he was ok, calling my sister in Pittsburgh after I heard a plane crashed near there, getting a call from a friend working in investment banking here wondering why his computer systems were mysteriously down (he hadn’t heard the news about the first tower yet), to calling my friends in NYC and after many busy signals getting through to them & hearing horrific stories. One friend who works in mid-town told me about the co-worker’s father who appeared in their office covered in ash looking for his son, another friend told me about standing with her co-workers by the window of her high-rise crying as she watched the towers burn and fall. Everyone I contacted had a story like this, and it was overwhelming.

That day I knew that there was a very good chance that I knew someone who had died on 9/11, since a lot of alumni from my school graduated with business degrees and worked in the city. I soon found out that I did. It was actually someone that I knew since I was a freshman and was truly one of the happiest, nicest, friendliest, warmest and most honest people I had ever known. I think of him every year and as I am sure so many others do. In fact, every year I Google his name. This time, I saw that earlier this year his high school alumni class had a kickball get-together in his honor (something I read that he used to organize on his own to get all of his friends together – I am sure it was a big group!) I loved seeing that. I am sure he was there!

Big hugs to you, Kenny.

September 10, 2008 - 3:05pm

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