It’s been a week. I’m writing this on Friday, Sept. 11, at about 2 p.m. My workday is nearly over, with the exception of this evening’s 25th anniversary September 11 memorial ceremonies. Then, tomorrow, I’ll likely be at my desk much of the day writing a Cornwall School Board story, a Cornwall Town board story and a Highland Falls Village Board story, as well as finishing off high school football and soccer stories, and tying up all the loose ends left for this issue of The News and The Local.

I’ve had the tv on all day as I worked - tuned, of course, to the coverage of the 9/11 ceremonies in New York City and at the Pentagon. I’ve learned a few things – stunning, right, that we are still learning new things about that tragic day, and the results of it?

The most striking thing was that now, officially, more people have died from post-911 illness than actually died on that day. Those illnesses – often digestive disorders, various forms of cancer, and mental health conditions - resulted from exposure to toxic dust, debris and trauma at Ground Zero. It’s so very sad. Heroes, truly, who did not only what they were paid to do that day, but what they wanted to do that day, have been suffering for it since 2001.

Six bells have rung annually during the NYC annual September 11 memorial ceremonies, representing the six precise, fatal moments of the 2001 terrorist attacks. Earlier today I saw that a seventh bell chime had been added, along with a seventh moment of silence, that honors the thousands of survivors, first responders and recovery workers who have died or still suffer with those debilitating conditions.

Well deserved. Unfortunate that it needs to happen, certainly, but well deserved.

Like I said, it’s been a week. The emotional toll is heavy today, as was my Thursday evening. I went to the ‘Remembrance Bowl’ at O’Neill High School, which while not directly pertaining to 9/11, did carry the weight of the day. If you didn’t read any of my previous stories on the football game, it commemorates “the game that never happened” in late 1944. Between the 101st and 82nd Airborne units positioned in France as part of World War II, the game was to be a celebration of camaraderie and the possible end of the war. But, in fact, it never took place because of what was soon to be called the Battle of the Bulge.

The Strauss Family Foundation sponsored this football game as part of The Remembrance Project. I had a chance to talk with Michelle Strauss, the founder of it, at O’Neill’s game. She, like I, was incredibly impressed with the patriotism shown by the student-athletes, their schools and the community that evening. I think I can speak for the Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery Central School District, and entire Town of Highlands, when I say that we are grateful to have been chosen for the opportunity to participate in the special event.

Thank you, also, to all of you who took the time to go to these Friday evening 9/11 ceremonies. It’s not always easy, but it’s important, like the Remembrance Bowl is.

My allotted space for this week is drawing near, so I’m going to finish up, close my computer, and head to my kitchen to make some meatballs. It’s pretty warm out today, but I think a week that was as busy as this one has been requires some week-ending comfort food. Meatball subs it is.