[Spacetalk] HONORING MY BROTHER, RICH and THE MEMORY OF 9/11

[Gabe Gabrielle]

Hi all, 
Every Year I share a story I wrote for a newspaper about 5 months after the attacks…please feel free to use it in any way you choose…hugs, gabe

Hi, my name is Gabe, George Gabrielle...my brother Richard Gabrielle was lost in the attacks on the World Trade Center. My brother worked for AON Corporation, on the 103rd floor of the South Tower. We were able to trace his steps from the time the North Tower was hit until he went down with the South Tower. We know that he was with a group of about 200 people waiting for an express elevator on the 78th floor when the plane struck the South Tower. That the building rocked back & forth, a deafening explosion occurred, walls and ceilings crumbled into a foot of debris on the floor, the air turned black, and flames shot out the elevator shafts. Most people died instantly, some had serious injuries, as was the case with my brother. We know the force of the explosion sent people flying through the air and my brother was thrown against a wall, suffered two broken legs, and was pinned under a large marble slab that had been on the wall. We know people tried to help him but couldn't...he was in too much pain and others, who were also injured, were trying to get out. We found this out from one of the 12 people who survived from the 78th floor. We were faced with this thought of him lying there by himself, in severe pain, knowing he had a terrible fear of dying in a fire, and it was very difficult to imagine. About 6 month later, tapes that had never been released surfaced...Lost Voices of Firefighters. In them we learned that firefighters had actually reached the 78th floor, mentioned him by name, he was still alive, and was with him when the tower collapsed. This was such a huge relief, to know that he probably thought he would be OK and at least did not die by himself. There is so much more to this story that I could add...I had plane tickets for the 13th to fly to NY to spend 4 days with my brother...when I finally was able to get a flight to NY, what it was like to go to trauma centers with thousands of people mourning and looking for loved ones, of people walking around with pictures looking for anyone who may have seen a missing relative, of being in NYC in an eerie stillness filled with such sadness, of standing in long, long lines to give DNA samples, of my brother's memorial and the memorial for the people he worked with...of getting back to KSC to have my desk filled with stuffed animals and cards, of friends' kids sending me gifts & cards, of getting phone calls and only hearing people crying on the other end...this to me is the reality of 9/11...I do know that Rich was the funniest guy I ever knew. That he is with me now and we laugh and joke as we always have. I refuse to allow myself to think of him as buried in the rubble of the World Trade Center, his remains were never found. I know we must go forward with life and by me taking him with me he can continue to have fun and enjoy life through my eyes. I believe we carry our loved ones with us and they share our emotions...when we are happy so are they and when we are sad, so are they. I believe the event far overshadows the individual or even collective losses, which we as a country must understand there are people out there who would do this over and over, or worse, if they could…that they will never stop trying and we must not be naive to think that this was a onetime occurrence.