Danny once wrote : I dance in the clouds and soak in the haze. What about you?
That lyric query was in an e-mail message that he sent to a friend a few weeks after he started working on the 98th floor of 1 World Trade Center. The routine of ascending the building's summit quickly spawned images that fed his poetry.
"Danny loved to write," said his father Helman Correa, who brought his family to the United States from Colombia in 1979. Danny Correa, 25, represented the fulfillment of his father's dream of a better life. Berkeley College ( picture of brick memorial above) had placed him in a job at the accounting department of Marsh & McLennan in July; he was to receive his bachelor's degree in accounting, with honors, this fall.

Danny spoke both English and Spanish. He was the father of a 3 or 4-year-old daughter, Katrina, whom he adored and visited often.

In the poetry he wrote, he strung contradictory words into sentences that seemingly defied understanding. The lyrics he composed for his band, called Lucid-A, were similarly nonsensical, but popular enough in the nightclubs where Lucid-A played in New Jersey and New York.

Danny's sister Jessica Correa, 21, said "He could have been the brightest star. He was just too smart to use normal words. "I think my brother was the smartest person I'll ever know in my entire life."

Though just finishing college, he already had experienced a lot of life. He was 3 years old when he emigrated from Colombia with his mother to join his father in the United States. After high school, he worked for several years as a manager for Loews Theaters, where he helped open new theaters in Atlanta and Texas.

"He was a very, very busy man," says Danny’s father Helman. "He was a young, honest, hard worker. He liked to play sports, he would join in the company bowling club, and he liked baseball."

"He was amazing, quiet and kind of mysterious," said Erin McAteer, a friend. "He never talked too much about private things, but you could tell that a lot of him came out in his music."
Danny was the founder of a basement rock band called Lucid-A, which had recorded four CD's. He played lead guitar, but he also could handle drums, keyboard and horns. "His passion was the music," says Helman. "I mean, he never went to school for any instrument or anything, but he learned it by himself." Danny wrote all the songs, including lyrics like, "It is gaining ground on us...peering through cracks in the walls," that in hindsight Helman Correa sees as prophetic.
"I put in his music and when this song came up, I was shocked, completely shocked, because I was hearing everything and I was starting to put everything together," says Correa. "And when he was finished, the song was saying ‘Goodbye’ and ‘Why?’ It shocked me".

Even more prophetic was a conversation Danny had with a friend just before his death.
According to Danny’s father, "They were having lunch and he was saying to her, ‘I’m gonna’ die very young, in a strange way, and nobody is going to find my body."

Along with the many pictures Correa keeps at his workplace is a stuffed animal which he gave to Danny the night of September 10th.

 "And I said, ‘Look what I got for you,’ and I gave this to him," says Correa. "He was so happy because I gave it to him, and I turned back to my car and he said, ‘Hey daddy,’ and I said, ‘What happened?’ And he said to me, "I love you so much!" and he just held me. Now, that's living in the moment! I admire that about this young man. Made me ask myself, if I take the time to really say I love you to those most precious to me.

Because music was important to the entire family, his father wrote a song in Spanish, translated as "My Son Sleeps," and sang it at a memorial service in September. I tried very hard to find the words to this song. Maybe one day I will find those lyrics who knows!?

I have been encouraged by this young man. I have been challenged by his question.....will I,...will you.....choose to DANCE IN THE CLOUDS or merely exsist!? Will we make our lives count for something,....will we be a blessing to another? We are only given a short amount of time here on earth. Will we use the time wisely? Maybe today as you read this,...you realize there is someone you need to call and say "I love you" to." Maybe there is someone you or I need to forgive? Perhaps we have been so busy chasing after THINGS instead of relationships....relationships with friends, family and maybe even God!?

I want to leave you with Danny's question,....knowing ONLY YOU and I can answer it for ourselves while we still have time!

                     Danny you will not be forgotten!

                              In this world you will have trouble.

                           But take heart! I have overcome the wolrd!

                                                                             John 16:33

I found most of this information at:

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on December 9, 2001

Letitia Stein (Chicago Tribune)

                                          ~A Video Clip Tribute~

  http://www.wuzupgod.com/sept11/sept11_memorial_worldwide.html