It is ironic that I am remembering Dorothy Mauro, one of 2,996 victims of 9/11,  who was killed in the World Trade Center attacks, because she has the same birthday as one of my daughters.  Dorothy, a New York Mets fan, is survived by her twin sister, yet is with the angels and her mother and another sister now. How painful is it to lose someone we love, but to lose a twin must be akin to losing a limb, like part of you feels like it's still there when it's really missing.  Reading her sister Margaret's loving and frequent posts to Dorothy brought tears to my eyes as I thought about what life would be like without my own sister- although we fight, I still love her and would be heart-broken without her, just like Margaret is after having lost her sister after 55 years with her.  "Dot" was working at Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. when her life was snuffed out by evil, but let us remember her and the others on the anniversary of this tragic day. And replace the memories of that day with happy ones spent with Dot.  Dot, we will never forget you.

Each year on this day I assign my students a special task for homework.  I tell them to 1) go home and tell their parents they love them, if they don't already do so and 2) perform a Random Act of Kindness for someone they don't know at school or for someone in their family- something out of the norm, and they can't tell the person why they are doing it.  "What does this have to do with 9/11?" they ask.  My response for the past 7 years is the same- on a day when we think only of horrible adjectives to describe the events that took place in 2001, let us make someone have a happy, grateful thought to replace some of the bad ones.  It breaks my heart to think of a child who went to school that morning and returned home parentless as is the case with the 5 children (and one on the way) of Tim Soulas who workedas managing director of foreign currency for Cantor Fitzgerald, with whom I went to elementary and high school.  His wife, Katy Soulas, sued Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein for millions and won (in principal) for wrongful death, in an attempt to bring justice to the victims of this horrific day.  Katy, who graduated with my husband, is a  brave mom of six who continues to inspire people with her story. She holds on to her husband's melted driver's license, retreived from the rubble.