I'm The Lucky One

It's that day again.

Today marks the 14th anniversary of the worst day in American history, when nearly 3,000 innocent people were taken from us in the worst terrorist attacks on United States soil. You just have to say the date: September 11th.

As those of you who read my blog know, I honor my dear friend Joyce Carpeneto every year here. Joyce had the terrible misfortune to be on the 83rd floor of the North Tower that fateful morning, and she and 12 of her colleagues from General Telecom all perished. No trace of anyone who worked there has ever been found.

I will be at the ceremonies at the World Trade Center memorial on Friday morning, with many others who lost loved ones that day. I will go with my dear friend Deborah, who was also a close friend of Joyce. For us, it is like a holy day of obligation to be there. And I will be there every September 11th for the rest of my life.

I want to thank all of you who have reached out to me over the last few days offering good wishes to me and Deborah. Through my words, I have met so many wonderful people, and they are from all over our country. Their words of support and comfort have helped me so much, and I'll never be able to thank you all for that.

Please do say a prayer for those lost on September 11, 2001, and for those they left behind. This is the most difficult day of the year for most of them, and the specter of the attacks never goes away for them.

I am very blessed to have had Joyce Carpeneto as a part of my life. Our common bond was music, as we met as Tower Records employees when Joyce joined the Greenwich Village store in 1985. We worked together there, and at a subsidiary of the company called TRIP, and became good friends.

People who have read what I have written about Joyce told me over the years that "Joyce was lucky to have a friend like you." I always correct them.

I'm the lucky one.

As I do every year, I link my previous September 11 posts. Here they are, since my first in 2006:

2006: Forever Missed and Forever Loved
2007: Never Forget. Ever.
2008: We Can Be The Ones Who Remember
2009: The Most Sacred Of All Days
2010: 3000
2011: Ten Years After
2012: 11 Years
2013: No Other Place In The World I Could Be Today
2014: Always and Forever Family

With special thanks to Keith De Cesare from ArtAid, for creating the above "Never Forget" banner.