The Lost

IRENE VIRAG | STAFF WRITER

September 19, 2001

ON A LATE summer day of bittersweet beauty, the smoke and steam still rise from the rubble where concrete turned to dust and where rescuers look and listen for signs of life that haven't been seen or heard. The enormity of it all is still too much to wrap your arms around.

Even as we marked the one-week anniversary yesterday, the epic destruction at the World Trade Center seems impossible to fathom. And so, as the everyday heroes of Ground Zero search for survivors, we search for answers. And for ways to comfort ourselves and each other.

We seek understanding and find some measure of it in the stories of the lost and the missing. More than 5,000 stories are buried in the debris of the vanished skyline. And each one is as singular and meaningful as yours and mine. As unique in its intricacies as a fingerprint or a heartbeat - and as universal, too.

Stories of secretaries and stockbrokers and firefighters and flight attendants. Story after story after story. They are the constants that run through our grief and our anger and our bewilderment.

The story of a 24-year-old bond trader who was just months away from marrying his high school sweetheart. The story of a soccer coach who went to work early on an exquisite September morning so he could make it home in time for a goalie clinic. The story of a former lacrosse champion turned brokerage house partner who left a message of love for his wife and children minutes after a hijacked plane shattered a skyscraper - and the world as we know it.

Each story is like a square in a patchwork quilt that the rest of us keep stitching together. A quilt that grows larger every day. We wrap it around ourselves as we remember, as we mourn. For the one, for the thousands, for ourselves. For all of humanity. For the future.

Information On Victims

Newsday invites friends and relatives to send information about services for victims of the World Trade Center attack for possible use in stories. Please include some details about each victim as well as specific funeral arrangements.

For services in New York City, please call 718-575-2556, or fax 718-793-6422.

For services in Nassau and Suffolk, please call 631-843-3252, or fax 631-843-2953.