It was a day of horror that none of us within the Hospitality Industry will ever forget. Hundreds of our colleagues, whose only crime was to go to work to create, to serve, were killed for no reason except to justify hate.
Yet as time passes it is so easy to remember only the pictures that broke our hearts of falling steel and explosing flames and forget the faces.
We must not forget our many friends and colleagues who worked within the Towers. Each and every one of them had a name. Catherine Hernandez has not forgotten.
She has said this, "My father, Norberto, was a pastry chef at Windows on the World in Tower One.
"For ten years, he made many fancy and famous desserts, but the sweetest dessert he made was the marble cake he made for us at home...
"Whenever we parted, Poppi would say, 'Te amo. Vaya con Dios.'
"I want to say the same thing to you, Poppi. I love you. Go with God."
If you can, call for a silent moment this September 11th and ask your staff to pause for a minute or two to remember these remarkably talented members of our Industry - how much they loved what they were doing and how we each have a responsibility to carry their legacy forward into a better world, one that we are creating by what we do each and every day.
Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2012