Lit a candle on the Promenade tonight, and set it by the flag pole at the foot of Montague Street, while the helicopters and fighter jets buzzed overhead and the bagpipes played and people sang "Amazing Grace" in the humid September darkness. I've done this every year for ten years now. My dog Casey accompanied me through 2008, he passed the following year and since then I've gone alone.
Casey was the perfect companion to have on that heartbreaking night each year. I was walking him at the north end of the Promenade on the morning of September 11, 2001; together we saw the first plane slam into the north tower. I swear that on some level he understood the horrible evil that had taken place, because each year on the anniversary he would lick the hands of anyone who petted him, lick the faces of small children, lie on the feet of anyone who treated him kindly, roll over and ask them to skritch his belly.... Jenny was so right when she called him the Perfect Buddha Dog!
But he's crossed the Rainbow Bridge now, and I was alone tonight by the harbor, alone with ten thousand candle flames, alone with three thousand burning ghosts, alone while I poured holy water on their blistering skins as they slipped over the horizon, hoping for a word of wisdom from me....I'm so very very sorry, but I don't have one to give you
All I can tell you is, turn to the people you love, and tell them you love them....You never know when it will be your last chance.
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