How much has changed since our last newsletter. The last letter I contributed opened with the line: "They were the best of times, they were the best of times." That seems like so long ago. There simply isn't a gauge to measure the grief and loss this country and our city have suffered. I think I speak for us all when I say we have plumbed new depths for measuring sorrow and sadness. I found myself unable to express my feelings so many times these past few weeks, because there were no words in English for what I wanted to say, what I had experienced, what I had witnessed, and what I feared was still to come.

Living in the shadow of the towers as I did, I found myself awed and dwarfed by them by turns. I disliked being so close to them because I felt their scale so inhuman. At night I would look over at them and marvel at the wasted electricity coursing through their empty floors. And silly me I always said, if they ever toppled, they would fall on our home. But from New Jersey and midtown, they were so familiar and comforting, so awe-inspiring, the anchors that held the downtown skyline together. A big shiny monument to the almighty super power that had the wherewithal to erect them.

I felt the same way about them as I did about airplanes. How can they possibly stay aloft??? How could man have evolved to such levels of cleverness? And then they were gone. The 15 minutes I have been allowed back to my home since the world changed, has shown me our new view. A big razor edged turret of twisted debris vaguely reminiscent of the twin behemoths glittering silver skin. Plumes of smoke still roiling up from beneath. The final resting place for some 6400 innocent souls.
                                                     
At our first board meeting since the disaster last night we invited Dennis Cahill from IIDA Foundation to speak to us on the three funding opportunities which are being formulated by the foundation. We all agreed that the most effective way to help those in immediate need and to fund research focused on design issues as they relate to disaster, was to form a coalition of as many design industry related organizations as possible. As a board, prior to the disaster we were formulating a plan to align ourselves with a community service. Little did we know that this year's efforts would be to help rebuild New York City.

I want to thank the hundreds of people who have reached out to me since my displacement and say that I will never forget the kindness shown. I have so much to be thankful for and these events have taught me the things that are really precious — life, family friends, and figuring out a way to help others whose needs are far in excess of those of my own. I know that it seems impossible to imagine right now, but down the road a piece, there is a rainbow.