By Jack Bloom ~

Instead of being listed simply alphabetically, the names at the 9/11 Memorial are listed to reflect friends and co-workers.

We are the ghosts of 9/11. We lived and loved, ate and drank
and looked forward with eagerness and hope on that beautiful
late summer day, to a tomorrow, that was not to be.
Like each of you, we had a name! Not one of us was nameless!
Those who loved us bestowed our names on us.
By remembering our names you remember us!
We looked forward to hearing our name- knowing that you
used our name to invite us
to join you for supper-
to share your joys and your sorrows,
to just be with you—
That we can no longer do,
but hearing our names gives us life.
And helps you remember
the love we brought to your life.
We lived and loved, ate and drank, worked and played, and
awaited our tomorrows with eagerness and hope. Our names
were special to us and above all special to you who love us.
We no longer live and love, but we can be loved and
remembered by name. We are grateful to you for remembering
and honoring our names on this anniversary of that gruesome
day- 9/11.
Hear our name and know for sure that we indeed did have a
name! Some of us had even made a name for ourselves. With
our name we answered the summons to live and to love, to
earn and to achieve! We brought pride to our names,
responded to them, and hoped to live and pass them on to a
new generation—
We are no longer with you, yet by remembering our
name—you make room for us in your heart, and the memory of
us among you who live on—so that those who follow us may in
our name and our memory- make the world a better and safer
place!
Let us not be nameless—Remember us by our name-you who
love us and whom we loved in return.
If you are a namesake of any of us- honor the name we share
with a life of love, courage and kindness.
We lived a life—We have a name! Do not forget us—Remember
our name and our love for you and your love for us!
As you hear our name- honor our name by creating a world of
Freedom, Love and Peace!!
We are those whose life was ended on 9/11 on a sunny late
summer day.
Remember our names!
Let us live in your memory!

Jack Bloom was the founding rabbi of Congregation Beth El in Fairfield. He is the author of several books, including “The Rabbi as Symbolic Exemplar.”  He lives in Fairfield with his wife, Ingrid.