Principled Innovation LLC

Five years later, and there is still grief

September 11th, 2006

This is a picture of Ed Pykon. We were classmates and friendly during high school, graduating together in 1986. Like many of my classmates, I lost track of Ed after graduation. I knew he had chosen to attend Leigh University, but after that I wasn’t sure in which direction he had gone with his life. I remember that Ed was a pretty good basketball player for our high school, West Orange High School in New Jersey, and he was a very funny guy.

Ed was killed at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001 and I had no idea it happened until last year.

The year 2001 was unbearably tragic for all Americans, and it was particularly painful for my family. In addition to the shock and horror in which we all shared on September 11 (and still share to this day), my wife lost her grandfather in February 2001 and my father passed away that June. Some six weeks after September 11, I lost my job. But despite all of the loss my family and I experienced that year, I was still grateful for having been spared the unspeakable anguish of having someone I knew personally lose his or her life in the attacks.

But despite what I thought, I actually had not been spared. I had a chance conversation with another high school classmate last year and she told me about Ed. I was simply dumbfounded by the news…I just could not believe it! And even though, at the time of his death, I had not spoken with Ed in fifteen years, there was still the sense of connection that I think we all feel with those people who have shared a part of our lives, even if only for a short time. Ed had turned out pretty much as I would have expected: married with one child, and a successful financial analyst and senior VP for Fred Alger Management. He was a really nice guy who clearly earned his success and created a nice life for himself, and he most assuredly did not deserve the horrible fate that befell him that day.

No matter what we may say, I believe all of us are still dealing at some level with the grief we feel from September 11. For many of us, today’s fifth anniversary makes fresh many wounds we hoped would not be laid bare again. I grieve for a long-lost friend and the wife and child he left behind, and I grieve for our nation as we honor the sacrifices of innocents and heroes. Rest in peace, one and all.

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