Today is a grey day on Long Island, New York, not only due to lack of sunlight, but emotionally as well. Today is September 11, 2015.
As I drove to my RE/MAX office in Smithtown, N.Y. the radio was airing the solemn roll call of the people who died at the World Trade Center (Twin Towers) 14 years ago on September 11, 2001. It was announced that there are 2,983 names being read.
Earlier this morning, I checked in on Facebook. The name, Marcy Boarders, was mentioned. I would think that most people would not recognize that name, I certainly did not. However, the picture next to the name was unforgettable. It was a picture of a young women dressed in professional business clothes, walking on the street completely covered in dust from the collapsed buildings. The picture flashed around the world for days after 9-11. The article tells us that she died at the age of 42 on August 25, 2015 from cancer, most probably caused from exposure to the unknown deadly carcinogens from the dust and debris she was covered in on that memorable day. It is a stark reminder that the final tally of those killed by the collapse of the towers has not been totaled.
I was driving through the small Hamlet of Nesconset. That is where a Plaza has been created named "9-11 Responders Remembered Park”. It is the only memorial in the country dedicated solely to Ground Zero first responders. I felt the need to take a walk through the park and reflect on how that day changed so many Iives. I was not surprised to learn that I was not alone in my thoughts. Several people, strangers, gathered and we shared memories of friends and loved ones we lost.
The creation of this park, I learned, was sponsored by the wives of two men, first responders, who were killed that day. The fact that it was built by private donations is a testament to Long Islanders and especially the people of Nesconset with whom I am proud to be associated.
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