Adam.

{Photo Credit: Mark Blais}

I would like to introduce you to Adam Arias.  As a blogger taking part in the 2009 Project 2,996, I was assigned a name.  Adam.  Arias.  I spent a full day reading everything I could get my hands on and I feel really honored to know more about this man.  He died in the attacks helping others.  No, he wasn't a firefighter or a medic.  At 37 years old, he was a vice president at Euro Brothers, except on that day, from the accounts that I have read, he did everything in his power to get people out of the building.  He had gotten out himself and gone back in to help more people leave and then instead of running from the building, he was right there with the firefighters, directing people away from the building.  That is where they found him, on the street with the firefighters.  I think I would have liked him.  Adam.  His wife wrote this amazing tribute to him that brought tears to my eyes.  Please read it because she can tell you much more than I ever could. 

In those days, weeks, and months following the 9/11 attacks, when emotion was raw, when the sting of loss of people like Adam Arias was fresh, we kept these people in our thoughts, their families in our prayers.  It's easy to feel dull to something that happened 8 years ago.  So today, I ask you to REMEMBER.  Close your eyes and put yourself back there.  I was sitting at my desk when it happened.  It had to be a mistake.  Right?  And when the second plane hit and news of the Pentagon we knew it wasn't.  Remember not only that there are 2,996 confirmed & reported dead from these terrorist attacks, but remember that there 2,996 people behind the names.  There are sons & daughters who are missing parents.  There are friends grieving the loss of confidantes, mentors, and partners in crime.  There are moms and dads who are aching at the thought of one of their children going before them.  Take just a moment of your day to send healing, loving thoughts to these families and friends and co-workers who might need a little extra peace in their life today and REMEMBER.

Writing this entry was difficult for me, it's emotionally draining to take yourself back there.  Remembering the pain and suffering that happened, the continued longing that these people must have for their loved ones and I am sure the feeling that we, as a nation are forgetting has to be heartwrenching.  To Adam's family, may you find some peace in your tremendous loss.  Thank you to the 2,996 Project and it's creator, Dale C Row.  I am so very glad that I had the priviledge to participate and to bring Adam into my readers' lives.


And if you are a blogger, and so inclined there is still time to go over to the 2996 project and get a name.  They are still in need and these people should be remembered.