9/11 At Eighteen Years: Remembering Those Lost

As I have done every year since the 5th anniversary of September 11th, I remember two wonderful individuals, Brook Jackman and Andrew Golkin, who I’ll never have a possible chance to meet and converse with, due to 19 murderous Islamist terrorists and their superiors, who attacked our country on that fateful day.

This is Brooke Alexandra Jackman. She was born August 28, 1978. She was murdered by Islamic extremists September 11, 2001, while working at Cantor Fitzgerald, where she worked as an assistant trader. She was just 23.

After reading so many touching stories and tributes about Brooke, I feel I almost know her. Her smile is infective. It seems so natural, rather then forced, as so many picture smiles are.

But, why listen to me. Listen to her father, Robert Jackman:

Brooke, the Brookster, the baby, so beautiful, so bright, so wonderful. She always made notes of her daily projects; she hated to forget anything. She had to be perfect-to do everything to perfection. She was the best and she always tried to see the best in everyone, always respected the other person’s right to be different. Brooke loved books reading all the time. I would bring her to work when she was a little girl and she would read her books all day in the office until she fell asleep on the couch. Brooke was the baby, the youngest of three, like me. I would tell her that’s what made her so strong, so independent, so focused because she always had to stick up for herself with her older brother and sister.

It seems that everyone who knew Brooke felt the same way. Apparently, she was a huge reader, with her nose always in a book, stopping by Borders everyday on her way to work. A kindred soul, since I typically have several books I am reading at one time. Makes me feel a little closer to this wonderful women I never knew, and now, will never meet.

Brooke was a giver, volunteering her time to work at soup kitchen’s, a school or the disabled, and a thrift shop that benefited cancer patients. She even won an award in 1996 from the Nassau County Executive for “scholarship and service.”

She worked on the 104th floor of Tower 1.

You can access the Brooke Jackman Foundation here.

God Bless you, Brooke, and may He always keep you in His arms.

This is Andrew Golkin. He was a Vice President at Cantor Fitzgerald. Born, 1970. On 9/11, 2001, Islamic extremists killed him. He was 30.

Born and raised in The City, he overcame disabilities to succeed in life, to be a world traveler, and a well respected member of Cantor Fitzgerald as VP of Interest Rates Derivatives.

A graduate of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, he is survived by his parents, Gerald and Janet, and sister Susan, as well as many aunts and uncles.

He worked on the 105th floor of the North Tower on that Day.

His mother, Janet, said “He had a wonderful, sweet disposition. Friends used to say he was the glue that held relationships together.” He was a “vegetarian who liked to box, and preferred a punch in the face over a bite of steak.”

For Andrew Golkin’s family, it wasn’t so much a question of whether to have a service, but what to call it. At 30, he was too young for them to call it “a celebration” of his life, said his sister, Susan, 34, of Manhattan. They called it simply a service in his memory. Five of his friends spoke. The rabbi who conducted his bar mitzvah officiated at the service. “There comes a time when having hope is more detrimental than coming to terms with what happened,” she said.

For her family, it was vital. “So you can know how to live the rest of your life.”

His friends and family have set up the Andrew Golkin Memorial Scholorship Fund, designed to fund and promote educational scholorship for deserving kids in NYC.

Kaddish

Glorified and sanctified be God’s great name throughout the world which He has created according to His will. May He establish His kingdom in your lifetime and during your days, and within the life of the entire House of Israel, speedily and soon; and say, Amen.

May His great name be blessed forever and to all eternity.

Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted, extolled and honored, adored and lauded be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, beyond all the blessings and hymns, praises and consolations that are ever spoken in the world; and say, Amen.

May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life, for us
and for all Israel; and say, Amen.

He who creates peace in His celestial heights, may He create peace for us and for all Israel; and say, Amen.

Where was I? On this 18th year, so many are remembering where they were and what they were doing, so as to Never Forget. The day started out like any other day, getting ready for work. I was in the shower when the radio station I was listening to said a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I hurried through, shaved quickly, and got out. And was watching the live helicopter coverage when the 2nd plane crashed. And then the mayhem that occurred at the Pentagon, people not sure what was going on, just that there was smoke or something there, till we found out the reality. People evacuating. The Towers collapsing. The horror and pain on the faces of people in New York City. We stayed tune to a little 5 inch TV I had, which I brought to work.

Where were you? Do you remember why it’s important to never forget?