I didn't lose anyone on this day. Today in fact is my grandmother's 93rd birthday, a tribute to her stubborn persistence, to be celebrated over eastern NC-style pork barbecue.

On this morning ten years ago, I was driving my father to the hospital to get his cancerous bladder and prostate removed. Extraordinary measures were being taken to save one life on a day when thousands were extinguished. But that's the story of every day.