How do you pay tribute to a person you do not know? As I write this memorial for Alexander Braginsky age 38, of Stamford, Conn. I ponder this question. You see Alex died on September 11th, 2001 in the World Trade Center in NY. A few months ago I was visiting blogs and I came across this one asking bloggers to sign up to pay tribute to one of the 2996 people killed on Sept. 11, 2001. All of our lives changed that day, but 2996 people lives ended, and Alex was one of them. I did not have the privledge of meeting this man, but after reading what his loved ones have written about him I wish that I had.
Here is what the people who knew him wrote about him in the NY Times:
"You could set your watch by Alex Braginsky. And woe to the boss or relative who let dust accumulate on their computer screens: they got scolded. Having moved to Queens from the Soviet Union in 1979 with virtually nothing, he felt anyone fortunate enough to have state-of-the-art computers had better take care of them.
Mr. Braginsky, 38, was a man who picked up his shirts at the dry cleaner and, before going to work at Reuters, re-ironed them if he noticed wrinkles. A perfectionist but not a prima donna, he would pull over to help if he passed a motorist with car trouble. When he traveled in Europe with his girlfriend, complete strangers would stop him on the street and ask for directions: even in foreign countries, he projected the savoir-faire of a fellow who knew where he was headed.
He rode a motorcycle and filled his kitchen in Stamford, Conn., with topnotch cookware. "A three hundred dollar set of knives," marveled his mother, Nelly. "I'd tell him, for that much, a knife should work by itself. When Alex cooked, it was like art on your plate." He was doing a colleague a favor and filling in at a meeting at Windows on the World on Sept. 11th."
September 11th changed all of us. We lost the innocent safe feeling we had always had before. Many of us have had loved ones go off to war. My family suffered a job loss and a move to another State all related to the terroist attacks. But 2996 people gave their lives. They probably did not even understand what was happening, but through their deaths they became symbols of the freedom and American way we believe so stongly in. I hope that all American's will stop today and think about these 2996 souls that we lost. I hope that we all will say a prayer for the families that survived and our Country that is now at war.
On the 1st Anniversary of 9-11 our family joined other homeschool families to go and sign Patriotic songs at a local nursing home. The 2nd year we flew a flag and prayed for our Country. The 3rd year we prayed and talked about how our lives had changed. Last year was the fourth year and our family went to the park and flew kites. The odd thing is we didn't even realize it was Sept. 11th until a few days later when I was scrapbooking the pictures and I checked for the date on the calendar. Somehow, even though we never thought it would happen our lives had returned to normal. As I looked at those pictures of my family flying kites I realized that in an odd way getting back to normal was our way of paying tribute to those who died on 9-11. We had not forgotten, we still cared and felt passionately that the terrorists must be stopped from doing something like this again. But, we had gone on. We were not shut up in our homes in fear. We are Americans and we were out with out family celebrating our freedom by taking it for granted. So this year, on the 5th Anniversay of that fateful day, we are going to go fly kites again. This time as a symbol of the freedom that we have, as a memorial to the people who died and as a statement that we will go on! As we fly our kites we will pray for our Country and the families of those that lost loved ones 5 years ago. We will pray for our Military and their families. We will pray for our President. We will be greatful for the freedom that we have. And, we will think of Alex. A man we never knew, but a man who's death changed us forever...
God Bless America!!!
Here is a quilt block in memory of Alex Braginsky
Click here to visit the memorial website created by Alex's Mother and to see his picture.
To find links to the other 2995 blogs that are paying tribute the heros of 9-11 click here.
Click here to visit the memorial website created by Alex's Mother and to see his picture.
To find links to the other 2995 blogs that are paying tribute the heros of 9-11 click here.
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