As many of you who read my blog know, September 11th is the most sacred day of the year for me. It is a day that America was attacked on her shore by terrorists, and nearly 3,000 innocent people lost their lives. And it was personal for me, as my dear friend Joyce Carpeneto was one of those souls.I have honored her here on this site every year since I started this blog back in 2006. I will be at the ceremonies at the World Trade Center site on Thursday for the 13th straight year. There simply isn't any other place I could be on this day but there.
Every year, all of the names of the 9/11 victims are read during the morning's ceremonies. Loved ones of the lost, first responders, workers at the rebuilding of the site and many others have been readers. This year it will once again by the families of the victims who will do the readings.
The 9/11 Memorial and Museum holds a lottery in August to determine who will do the readings. Almost on a lark I entered my name in the lottery, not really thinking it would be picked. But on August 19th, I was notified that I my name was picked to be a reader. It was literally a dream come true. It is something my dear friend Deborah and I have always wanted to do to honor Joyce and all the victims.
But I received a call later in the day from another person from the Museum, asking me to call them back. I did the following morning, and I was told that since Joyce and I were NOT blood relatives, I was not going to be allowed to do the reading, as it wouldn't be fair to those families who lost out. I certainly wasn't going to pretend I was her brother or cousin, as I could never in any good conscience do a lie like that. I said we were dear friends, and that is true.
Basically, "dear friends" don't count.
I understood their reasoning, and I have to admit that they were rather nice about it and not at all obnoxious. I was not upset or angry about it. Just disappointed. Friends of the victims have always been looked over in the ceremonies, and that is a shame.
I will see the loved ones reading the names on Thursday, and it will make me sad that I wasn't allowed to do it. Joyce and I may not have been related, but she will forever be family to me. Always.
Here are the previous tributes I have done in Joyce's memory:
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
May God bless Joyce and every other person who died on September 11, 2001.
