Joyce and Alice

It's that time of year again.

Sunday will mark 15 years since the World Trade Center was attacked by radical Islamic terrorists, and we lost nearly 3000 beautiful souls here, at the Pentagon and in western Pennsylvania. I will be at the World Trade Center remembrance for the 15th straight year on Sunday to remember all the victims.

And those of you who know me, I honor my dear friend Joyce Carpeneto every year on this blog. We worked together at Tower Records in Greenwich Village for over four years, and we also worked together at the company's distribution arm called TRIP (Tower Records Import Product).

Joyce worked for General Telecom as a sales rep after leaving Tower in 1998, and her company transferred her into a new office in the North Tower, on the 83rd floor. She had the terrible misfortune to be at the work that awful morning, and she and her 12 colleagues all perished. Nothing was ever found of any of the thirteen.

Shortly after I found out that Joyce was missing, I had a memory of her that came flooding into my mind. And it was one of the happier memories I have of her.

Right after I started working with her at TRIP, we were together in the Greenwich Village office we had. I was doing some checking of the inventory work I had done when she walked over to me and said, "Do you want to see some pictures of me with Alice Cooper?" He had recently done in an in-store appearsnce at the Tower Village store to support his latest album. "Absolutely," I said.

She handed me a couple of pictures of her with a few other Tower employees posing with the legendary rock icon. He had his arm around her and it was a great picture. But I will remember forever when I looked up at Joyce after I saw the pictures. (I really wish I had the pictures to share with you, but I don't have them.)

She had a smile from ear-to-ear, like this was one of the most special moments of her life. Even now, I can close my eyes and still see that beautiful smile she had. It always brings me a feeling of great comfort.

In 2005, I did a special recording for StoryCorps, which records remembrances of all kinds. And this was one for the 9/11 victims. I am very proud to say that my remembrance of Joyce is in the Library of Congress, and I also dedicated it to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. When the museum opened in 2014, they used three snippets I recorded for her interactive profile, which also includes many lovely pictures. The Museum picked my telling "The Alice Cooper Story" for its main snippet for Joyce's profile.

I have done many, many things in my life I am very proud of, but nothing tops this.

And I hope one day I can meet the great Alice Cooper and tell him this story.

This is the 11th year I have remembered my dear friend here on my blog. If you'd like to check out any of the previous years remembrances, please click any of the links below.

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
2015: I'm The Lucky One 

Please say a prayer for all the 9/11 victims today, all the first responders (especially the ill ones) and all those left behind with broken hearts.

I will love you forever, Joyce.