19 years...

Hard to believe it was so long ago. I'm not sure we've learned from it.

 

 

As always, this ad featuring the Budweiser Clydesdales brings it all back. The ad was aired only once, as Budweiser did not want to give impression of exploiting the 9/11 attacks for advertising purposes. It lives forever on the internet.

#NeverForget

Death, destruction, depression and hockey

Last weekend's tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks had a local hockey connection: two members of the Los Angeles Kings scouting department were among the those who unexpectedly lost their lives that day.  Garnet "Ace" Bailey and Mark Bavis were passengers on United Airlines Flight 175, which was hijacked and flown into the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.

Ace Bailey/Mark Bavis memorial patch

Bailey, the Kings Director of Pro Scouting, had a lengthy NHL career that included winning two Stanley Cups with the Boston Bruins.  The Kings rowdy mascot, Bailey, is named for him.  Bavis was a young amateur scout who had displayed a gift for spotting talent.  Both made their homes in Boston and were headed to Los Angeles for the start of the 2001-2002 season.

The Kings annual Hockey Fest on Sunday included tributes to Ace and Mark, and an auction that raised funds for the Widows, Orphans and Disabled Firefighters Fund.

Links:
Ace Bailey Children's Foundation - Mark Bavis Leadership Foundation - LAKings.com: 10 Years Later: Memories of Kings Scouts Still Strong - Los Angeles Times: Families persevere 10 years after 9/11 took L.A. Kings scouts - As part of Project 2,996: Ace Bailey remembered by Scatterbrained and Mishigas Central - Mark Bavis remembered by Shock and Blog

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Hockey's summer from hell reached its zenith last week when the Russian league KHL suffered the catastrophic loss of the hockey team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in a plane crash.  My weekend spent reliving the horror of 9/11 and watching Ace and Mark's plane repeatedly flying into Tower Two was capped off by the news that Alexander Galimov, one of only two survivors of the Lokomotiv disaster, had succumbed to his horrific injuries.  Just after the crash his condition was being described by doctors as "beyond critical" and they gave the impression that they believed his death to be imminent.  Galimov had suffered burns over 80 percent of his body, along with significant damage to his respiratory system (had he survived, he would have required a trachea transplant).  But for a few hopeful days he defied expectations and the hockey world was really pulling for him; "FIGHT KID!" littered my Twitter hockey list in his honor.  Galimov was a veteran of Lokomotiv and scored the team's last goal.

In rare good news, the only other survivor, flight attendant Alexander Sizov, is expected to recover.

A few days ago the KHL announced that although Yaroslavl is done for the season, the team will live on.  The plan is for Lokomotiv to be rebuilt and return to the league next year.

 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl memorial patch

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As to why I decided to write such a depressing post, well, first, on a personal level my Dad died earlier this year and I'm still trying to wrap up his estate, a trying experience that has forced me to put my life (and a chance to properly mourn him) on hold and has kept me from home for most of the summer and now going into fall, so I've been depressed about that for a while.  On top of that, reliving 9/11 all weekend after summer's hit parade of hockey tragedies just left me feeling so sad last night, especially when capped with the late night news of Alexander Galimov's passing.  With the exception of my Dad, who was 70 and had cancer when he died, every person mentioned and/or linked to in this post died young and tragically.  It almost seems like somewhere along the way there was a swap and now it's the norm to die young and the exception to make it to a ripe old age.

I'm just ready for bad things to stop happening to good people.  I'm tired of good people losing their lives and their loved ones, tired of bad guys trying to destroy us for no good reason whatsoever and tired of tragic news breaking our hearts.  I want everyone to be able to live and thrive.  I'm ready for some good news for a change, for myself and everyone else. 

I just want something to cheer about.  And that's where the greatest game on earth comes in.  Hockey is like being at a party with your favorite team, an open bar and 20,000 of your closest fellow fans and it is fun.  I just hope I get back to L.A. before the NHL's annual party starts next month without me.  At the rate I'm going that may or may not happen.  But either way it gives me something to look forward to instead of something to dread, and I could really use that right now, even if I end up being a bit late to the party. 

I guess what all this means is that I'm tired of being sad, I just want things to feel normal again, and that I'm really grateful that having this blog gives me a rambling outlet to say so, however awkwardly.

Project 2,996: Remembering Evan J. Baron on the 10th Anniversary of 9/11

This post originally appeared on my previous blog, Rose Parade, on September 11, 2006.  It is reposted and updated as part of the ongoing Project 2,996 and to mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Remembering Evan J. Baron

Before he went to work at the World Trade Center five years ago today, this was Evan J. Baron:


He was a 38 year old resident of Bridgewater, New Jersey and was a successful energy futures specialist for Carr Futures on the 92nd floor of the WTC.


His wife was Jeannine. When they met she was a shy receptionist who flaked out of their first date.  He was a not-so-shy floor trader who persevered.


Eventually they married and had two children, Ethan (now 11) and Julia (now 7).


Evan was a devoted family man of whom his own father said, "He never lost sight of family as the most important thing," Irwin Baron said. "I was in awe of how he grew up -- a wonderful father and a wonderful husband." His sister considered him a dual blessing: "He wasn't just my brother; he was my best friend," Julia Driscoll said.


He loved guitar and golf and was a cigar and scotch buddy to Michael Spinella.  He was a treasured friend and business associate to many.


Evan lived to age 38, and from what little I’ve been able to learn about him, when I say he lived to age 38, he lived to age 38.  I don't doubt that he has been missed terribly for the past five years, because people like this are just not not missed.


Today I am honored to honor Evan J. Baron as best I could as part of the 2,996 Project.

Update (9/10/11):

Evan Baron from Portraits of Grief.

Evan Baron on Legacy.com and Legacy.com Guestbook.

This was pretty much all I could find in my attempts to update my post about Evan.  He would have been forty-eight had he not been killed.  His children are now sixteen and twelve.  I hope they and Evan's other family and friends are doing well.

Project 2,996: Remembering Lucy Francis on the 10th Anniversary of 9/11

Virgin "Lucy" Francis was on the job as a member of the housekeeping staff at the famous Windows on the World Restaurant in One World Trade Center when the building was struck by American Airlines Flight 11 on the morning of September 11, 2001.  No one in the restaurant, located on the top floor of the building, survived the attack.

The profile of Lucy pictured is from Portraits of Grief, a series run by the New York Times as part of their coverage in the aftermath of the attacks.  

Other than appearing on countless online lists of the dead I was unable to find much else about Lucy.  However the brief NYT article speaks volumes about what kind of person she was.  Active and hard-working at an age when most people are gazing longingly at retirement, she didn't even have to be at the restaurant at the time of the attack.  She wasn't due to start work until 9:00am (American 11 hit the tower at 8:46am) and had recently been ill with the flu.  She could easily have stayed in bed that day.  Instead, she headed to work early.

Lucy was survived by four sons, grandchildren and great-grandchildren who could no doubt fill pages (online and off) with her story and who no doubt still miss her terribly ten years after her death.

Pet Harbor, an animal rescue operation in Virginia, began naming their rescuees in honor of those who were lost on 9/11.  In 2009 this Siberian Husky puppy was named for Lucy.

On the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks and as part of Project 2,996, I am honored to remember Lucy Francis, who lost her life that day.