And this year, I woke up on September 11 and saw.... Note the shadows of the buildings first casting from the east then the south then the west There are more and more people coming all day... bringing artwork and banners, leaving chalk to mark the ground with people's feelings. I was watching when a guy turned to me and handed me his chalk and said: "Now you HAVE to." Nothing else. Just "Now you have to." So I did. I wrote this: WE WHO LIVE HERE WILL ALWAYS CARE. And then I drew the World Trade Center, it's basic familiar shape, for the first time and I wrote: I want them back. Then the candles started being lit in circles. I have heard it said that there are no sunsets in New York City. And so it was. And will be. A year later, we still care and everyone still cares about the 2819 people who died at the hands of terrorists, the 403 uniformed city service personnel who died saving 26,000 lives the other 2416 who died either doing their job or trying to help others, their families and their survivors. We care about the 22 US soldiers who have died in Project Enduring Freedom, and all the soldiers from every country who serve, we care about the Afghanis and the Pakistanis we didn't even know before, we feel closer to the Israelis and the people of Oklahoma City, we care about the good and decent Palestinians and Arabs and Muslims whose plight and religion have been perverted and twisted to be used against them. Gone are the flush economic times, the Russian Tea Room, Enron and our ignorance. Back to the caves for the Taliban and Al Queda. Israel and the Jewish population of the world welcomes in a new year and a new day of atonement in relative peace. We go on, we remember, we care and we learn. Most of us now do more with less, appreciate life more. I have made new friends, learned more about the firefighters that are my neighborhood.

3 NYFD Z3 Ladder 20 Order Form~~ Part 1 Last Year's Vigil Morning~~ Part 2 Last Year's Vigil Evening~~ Part 3 September 11, 2002~~ Part 4 Back to the Firehouse~~ Part 5 Love from Kansas~~ Part 6 Men of Ladder 20~~ Part 7 Ladder 20 Today~~ Part 8 Lower Manhattan Today~~

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