EIGHT YEARS

It is hard for me to fathom that today marks eight years after four airplanes fell from the sky and forever changed everything.

I now work one block from the site of the World Trade Center.
As I write this, despite a fierce rainstorm, a tight crowd of people (especially those in uniform) are somberly repeating the annual ritual of reciting names.

I welcome this tradition, because it keeps in my heart the names of:

• Gary Bird (husband of my dear friend Donna Killoughey, she long active in the ABA’s wild and wacky Law Practice Management entourage);


• Flight 93's Mark Bingham (a fellow United Airline brat, and former roommate of Per Casey of our tech circles); and




• Flight 93 flight attendant Lorraine Bay (undoubtedly a distant cousin, she certainly has the Bay family mischievous "sparkle" in her eyes).

And they are just three of the approximately 3,000 people who perished eight years ago today.

It’s soooo hard to write without cliches when addressing 9/11, but as they say, we take it one day at a time. So perhaps this is a very good day to quietly give praise to the people you cherish — and perhaps even be kind to those who irritate you.

I will never forget September 11, 2001. As a journalist it was my "personal best" of my entire career. I still struggle with "survivor's guilt" just a bit, but can only hope that the work I did that day helped comfort those who experienced such unimaginable pain.

And I'm grateful that 9/11 introduced me to my colleague David Horrigan, and that our instant bonding has matured into a steady and unbreakable friendship over these eight years. We try to get together every year on 9/11, as we will later today. We are heading up to Yankee Stadium tonight to see if Derek Jeter can add a happy memory to this date that has been so poignant and painful in the past.

Life is indeed short, and an amazing journey. I’m glad to walk it with all of you.

Update: Derek Jeter did it! :)

Arizona Central Buckley blog:

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9/11 photo album here.

Excerpts: LTN coverage from October, 2001 issue:

On The Tarmac, by Michael Latz
WTC Firms ReGroup, by Ashby Jones
A Sea of Paper, by David Horrigan
Fiat Lux, by Monica Bay
David Letterman Monologue, 9/17/01