We are re-posting this piece written by Michael Mark, CEO/Creative Director @ NYCA, in honor of the 10th Anniversary of 9/11.
To those of you who lost loved ones in the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, here’s what happened in their final moments.
Your father was a hero. When the building shook from the blast, he did not concern himself with fear. He helped unblock an office door which had been barricaded by debris and furniture that had moved. He freed three people.
Your friend who was on the plane being hijacked recognized immediately how serious the matter was and reached to calm the shaking hand of the person in the next seat.
Your wife saw a man bleeding from his head and she tore a piece from her shirt and made a bandage for him.
Your aunt helped her co-workers who could not find the exit through the smoke – they all made it. Then she went back for others.
Your nephew who was the pilot on the plane had only the safety of everyone on board in focus every second.
Your grandfather found a young man pinned under a fallen piece of ceiling and even when the young man said go on without him – he stayed until others heard the calls and came to help.
Your husband took on the hijackers believing it would cost his life. He helped save hundreds of people neither of you will ever know.
Your grandmother who worked at the Pentagon led hundreds who were physically stronger to a secure area, putting them before her own welfare as she always has.
Your uncle gave his water to a choking woman who gave him God’s blessing with every floor they arrived at, arm in arm.
Your brother who always wanted to be a policeman knew without doubt as he followed the cries for help up the stairs this was the moment why.
Your sister searched her entire floor to make sure everyone was out of there before she began to make her own way down.
Your friend held the exit door open for his office-mates with his wheelchair, cheering as they moved on that “We’ll all get out together.” And he didn’t so much hold on to those who lifted him down as he hugged them.
Your son would not let the tired woman stop. He cajoled her by telling her she reminded him of you; how you two had to meet. He even called her mom to keep her moving.
Your flight attendant daughter was forced to the back of the plane with all the others on board but stood in front of them in protective defiance; keeping herself between the terrorists and her passengers.
Your sister climbed back up three flights against the crowd and heat, believing her assistant was still there.
Your college buddy’s sense of humor kept all in his voice’s range smiling and moving with hope.
Your niece lent her shoulder to lean on for a man she had seen in the elevator so many times but whose name she never knew.
Your sister-in-law saw a man sitting in the stairwell coughing, and shared her asthma medicine. They moved on together.
Your firefighter brother-in-law helped hundreds of people out, redirecting them to clearer exits as he climbed higher and higher.
Your nephew and his boss carried an older woman 38 floors.
Your cousin got everyone to sing “The Long and Winding Road” as they worked their way down, making up the words they didn’t know.
Your mother’s last thoughts were the same thoughts she’s had as she lay her head down every night since you were born.
You wonder what happened. You want to know what these people you love were feeling, what they were thinking, what they went through in their final moments. These are actual facts, exactly as they happened. As true as their love for you. As true as their faith in your love for them.
Posted by NYCAgrow 
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