This is my cousin Dave. He worked in Tower 1 for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 101st floor on 9/11. He was a father to his daughter a devoted son to my aunt and uncle, and good brother to his sister. His birthday was September 10. He had dinner on his birthday with his mom and dad, (my aunt and uncle) to celebrate. He got into work a bit early on 9/11, and called my aunt and uncle to thank them for dinner, and tell them how much he enjoyed it. Not long after he hung up, the plane hit. The rest is history as we all know. What many people dont know, is some of the details that families went through after. For days, his sister(my cousin) and daughter searched for him. While expecting the worst, they held out so much hope that he was alive. They went to hospitals all over NY —the city and the suburbs , trying to see if he might be there. They hung picture after picture of Dave on walls, light posts, businesses, wherever they could, asking people to contact them if they saw him. Nobody did. Late in October, my aunt and uncle asked our uncle and myself to read at his memorial Mass. It was terrible, seeing only his picture on a table. It wasnt a funeral. I felt his spirit. It didn’t help. In August almost a year later, they found David. He was actually found about a day or so after 9/11 but it took that long to identify him. My hope is that he and his fellow workers succumbed to smoke, before the tower collapsed so they weren’t alive as the tower collapsed. So about a year after, there was a REAL funeral. We got to go through a ceremony all over again, this time, with a body. He was buried with his father. My uncle didn’t make it to the first anniversary. The loss of my cousin was too much for him, he was devastated. He told me after his initial ceremony, through tears, that life is hard but Dave’s life didnt have to end this way. That’s not how it’s supposed to be he said. Over the next few months, more of Daves remains were found. This happened on three separate occasions if I remember it correctly. So, that meant three more trips to a cemetery, opening up wounds. It seemed closure would never arrive. Finally, the end arrived. Dave and I were ushers at each others weddings. We had great times growing up. We shared laughs reliving those times I miss him. While I always posted a picture of him on 9/11 as a remembrance, I never went into these details. I decided to now b/c its been 25 years, and sadly that day has been forgotten. Too many young adults who didnt live through those times havent been adequately educated just how deep the wounds from that day are. September 11 is a meaning less news story to them. What makes this 25 ‘anniversary’ remembrance more important is that NYC has elected a POS as Mayor who identifies WITH the animals who have caused 3000 families unspeakable pain. He doesn’t even respect families wishes that he stay away. He’s a fucking disgrace as an American and as a HUMAN. I hope the few paragraphs I shared give you a small glimpse of how just one 9/11 victims death impacted his family. WE MUST NEVER FORGET. EVER! Thank you if you stayed with me on this post. God bless the victims and their family. God bless America.