FROM A DEAR FRIEND
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It started out like every other day – driving David to school. As it turned out, it was not like any other day. I had told Patricia, that I had heard an airplane earlier that morning. It was flying low and sounded like it was sputtering. An unusual noise for an airplane. I thought nothing of it and took David to school. I always had the radio on so that David could get used to current events. But this morning’s events were not the usual events. A commercial airplane crashed into the World Trade Center Building. Strange, I thought. What with our sophisticated air traffic control system, how could that happen. Well it did. Not one, but two airplanes. The TV images did not lie. From that moment on, our lives changed. We were ushered into terrorism striking on our shores.
The events unfolded before our very eyes and like cameras we were recording it all. Our brains would be filled with those images forever. Nothing would ever change it. But what happened also, is the effect it had in our hearts and the mixed fillings that were taking place inside us. The world would never be the same. The terrorists had terrorized us all and for a moment we were all frozen in time.
What could we do. How can we help. We must all do our part. We could not let the events unfold without our participation. The family had to get involved. Friends also. Fortunately a friend of ours worked in a famous restaurant two blocks away from the disaster. We called him. He told us that the Red Cross had not mobilized yet and food was needed to feed the thousands of firefighters and police and volunteers. We said we would help provide the food if he and the owner of the restaurant would do the cooking. 35 000 meals a day had to be provided. Where would we get the food. He gave us a number of a wholesale meat establishment. We could order the meat and poultry and they would deliver it to the makeshift building for the preparations of the meals. The first order we gave them was for 300 pounds of ground meat. But that did not last long. The Red Cross was still mobilizing. So we placed another order of 500 pounds of meat. And then another order of poultry. Now our family felt involved.
We went done to the site to help serve the food to the tired and brave firefighters and policemen. They would come in dirty, tired with a strange stare in their eyes. But they were always grateful for the hot meals. And we were grateful to God that He gave us the opportunity to provide whatever we could. The Red Cross was soon mobilized and started to provide additional food. Our services were no longer needed. We had provided well over 100,000 meals, and we were so pleased to have done so. We were able to do our part, and we walked away without being noticed, just the way we like it.
From Another Special Friend
It's hard to imagine nine years have passed since the events of 9/11. We were in NYC in July 2001, just months before the terrorists attacked, to celebrate Ed's parent's 50th wedding anniversary. As you can see from our picture of the skyline during the river tour, the Towers dominated lower Manahattan.
The morning of 9/11 found Ed and several of our friends in NYC for business. They were in the lobby of the Millenium Hotel (directly across from the Twin Towers and across from the Generali offices) as the first plane went in.
new offices are in the brand new building 7 World Trade also overlooking the area. There are over 2,000 construction workers working on the site. You can see the memorial pools marking the site of the WTC towers. 
We have been back to NYC many times since then, most recently in late August. On this visit we stayed in the new hotel overlooking the construction site and walked all through the area. There is a memorial right outside the Generali offices detailing the timeline and displaying many photos from 9/11 and the days immediately after. It is important to take a minute today, honor those who died then and those brave men & women in the military who sacrificed their lives in the fight since. Remember we must continue our vigilance and thank those who remain on the front lines. Semper Fi. Ductus Exemplo. 
