Wanted to publicly remember my friend, Wade, today.

He was in Windows on the World on September 11th.

The next day I babysat his daughter while his wife stood in line at The Armory to see if maybe they had somehow found him alive. We still hoped for the best.

We played hard that day, and I took pictures because I didn't know if she'd ever smile so big again. She didn't know a thing in this photo.

Weeks later, her mother asked if I would tell her that her father died, and I did. I told her at a picnic table outside of her school.

I volunteer at an organization called We Are Family Foundation, founded by the musician Nile Rodgers. Instead of responding to this tragedy with feelings of hatred and revenge, he began a mission to educate people about mutual respect, understanding, and appreciation of cultural diversity. It would have been the kind of thing Wade would have done.

xo