This is in honor of our good friend Joe, a Brooklyn bus driver and a hero from 9/11.

First, I want to recall the happy day when we met Joe and his wife Theresa. We were seated alongside each other in the grand dining room on a cruise ship sailing through the Bahamas. We began to chat. 

How lucky we were to have met them! 

Joe and Theresa had warm smiles cooled by wisdom. Joe’s favorite line was “Forget about it.” And you did when you hung out with him, he helped you face life lightly.

We corresponded via snail mail, emails, and texts. Through the years, we experienced and communicated our lives together. 

On September 11, 2001, Joe drove his bus back and forth through the soot and rubble to rescue people from the devastated World Trade Center. 

That day, few knew his name, but he was a hero. 

On October 14, 2018, Joe died too young from lung cancer. If it wasn’t for 9/11, I believe Joe would be alive today, and heartbroken Theresa would sit alongside him still.  

This story is one of many. The list of 9/11 victims is greater than the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and in the crash of Flight 93 in Shanksville, PA.

Joe, you can tell us to “forget about it,” but we’ll never forget you, or that pivotal day in American history. 

Image by efes from Pixabay.