I remember you every year David. You were a sharp young man with your whole life ahead of you. Rest in peace my friend.

I worked at New York Cares in 2001 when David was volunteering there -- he tutored high schoolers for the SAT and had been invited to train to lead one of the tutorials, and we'd been communicating about the training in the days leading up to 9/11. I didn't know David well, but after the attacks I learned about his inspiring life from the profile published in the New York Times (someone read it aloud at a staff meeting and we all cried) and various tribute sites that sprang up on the web. I've also been inspired by the seemingly infinite grace of his father Ted in the years since on these sites and in interviews. I wish peace and comfort for David's family and all those who knew and loved him.

David Scott suarez but we are all children as justice is.....

Dear Mr. Ted Suarez and family, I worked with David when I was at Deloitte Consulting in the same client project at Marsh McLennan on the Oracle Financials implementation, David was in NYC and I was in London having transferred the year before to London with Deloitte to the UK. I had not realized that MMC had placed his name in this memorial, so my apologies for my lateness. David was a very good colleague to work with, and we used to love his sense humour, and his ambition to get the right things done. I think David would be 45 by now, and I hope that he is looking at us from above. David will always be in our thoughts and prayers. Godspeed.

David Scott Suarez was truly a phenom. I was one of his teachers at WWP high school. Everyone remembered Dave. He was a stellar student, athlete, Eagle Scout and a great friend to his fellow students. Even after he graduated from High School, David would come back to visit his teachers at WWP. I remember I was in my break room at HSNorth when the tower was hit. At that time I didn’t realize David was on the 99th floor. The plane hit from the 92-99th floors so I knew later that he didn’t make it out. Many teachers from the high school retired, but we all hold David in our hearts each and every 9/11. God Bless Your Family!

Today is the 20th anniversary of 9/11 but it feels like yesterday. One wonders what might have been if not for this day? We will never know. What we know is that we were privileged to have known David and to have been inspired by him. To have witnessed his positive attitude, his willingness to volunteer his time for worthwhile community projects, his ability to see possibilities and make them come true. We know that influenced by his memory and legacy of energy, many others have picked up on his behalf. Thus, although we will never know what might have been, we know he was the spark that has motivated much good. We know that although we will forever miss, love and remember him, his spirit remains alive in us. Ted Suarez Father of David

Remembering you

Dear Mr. Ted Suarez and Family, I hope it is appropriate that I write to you today on the 19th Anniversary of 9-11. I have been struck by your coming back to the Marsh website to post time and again and would like you to know that someone else whom David's spirit touched is still here and remembers him.  For some reason I am just now becoming un-paralyzed from day itself. I worked on the 99th floor - same as David. Three elevator rockets up to the moon. It felt spectacular. And like I've read in a few articles and can corroborate - when a person took that ride, it felt like he/she was indeed going places. I worked in the northeast corner as a temporary admin to a group of five claims lawyers and an executive secretary. David, of course, was working for Marsh as a consultant, "on rent" from Deloitte. Our shared, visiting statuses upped the transient mystique and our kinship a bit. We would be sure to say hi and smile when rounding corners. I have often thought about David. We were close to the same age, dancing around advanced degrees. Afterwards, I heard your son had been applying to Harvard that morning and got there extra early to do so. I was impressed by his discipline and later found that piece of the story all the more tragic. I, on the other hand, had been struggling to get in to see a primary care physician, and my appointment happened to be on that Tuesday morning. It is the randomness of it all that eventually drove me out of the city. I hope it is okay that I take the opportunity to write out of the blue to you today so many years later. I hope it does not cause any more hurt. It is nice that Marsh keeps these pages up for when the mood strikes and one is propelled to speak. Please know that I carry your son's memory in my heart along with the three others to whom I was close who perished (E. Rice, M. Cahill and C. Sarker). Between my professional theatre contracts, I had built a relationship with Marsh and naturally kept coming back for the view! If you wish to reach me at any point in the future, I live in Alaska now but can be found at christina.apathy@gmail.com Blessings on your family. Truly and with love, ~Christina Apathy

The Suarez family and my family were next door neighbors when we all moved into a NJ development in 1989. David was 13 when I met him and it didn't take long to realize that he was a very intelligent. caring, friendly young man. He always had a smile which became even brighter when he talked about and went skiing. He had manners and respect when many kids didn't. I learned through the years that his parents were generous, caring, and had truly admirable family values and morals. I was in awe when their whole family would work in a soup kitchen every Thanksgiving. They exuded love for each other and humanity. My family moved to another NJ town in 1996 and periodically we'd go visit our former neighbors, including the Suarez family. Of course, I was horrified when we found out that David had perished in the WTC attack. Adding to the shock was that the neighbors on the other side of the Suarezes, the Ryans, had lost John, the husband and father of three. The dark sadness covered the entire development as well as the world. David was 24 years old when he was taken from us. He was a thirsty scholar... but he will never know how much he imparted to me. David, you helped to make me a better, gentler, more caring person. I am forever in your debt, young man. You are profoundly missed.

I never met David, but at the time we were both worked for Deloitte. I was at the Lisbon office, in Portugal. Deloitte had a little book printed out about David which, as far as I understand, was distributed to every Deloitte employee worldwide. I remember reading there that we were about the same age, we both were quite technical and we both did sailing. The book was filled with heartfelt testimonies from David's colleagues in the US. Even though we never met, I had the feeling of a personal tragedy, that someone really nice was taken away too soon. My deepest sympathies to the family and friends. Ivan Pinto September 11, 2018

Soon it will be 12 years since that bright sunny day in September 2001 in which David and so many others were taken from us. We remember and we celebrate their memory and yet there are still moments of reflection in which the pain of their loss is still very real. Today in one such moments I searched the web and found the beautiful tenth anniversary tribute that is posted on this site. I was moved and comforted by what was said and by the songs. It was as if those speaking and singing were affirming loved ones lost but not forgotten. I remember the morning when the memorial was dedicated. As the ceremony unfolded the calm was broken for a short while by a sudden burst of wind in that sheltered garden and many remarked it was as if the energy of those loved ones being honored was again present. Let us rededicate ourselves to keeping their joy for living, their memory, and their energy alive so that those around us now and those who come after us will continue to be inspired by their lives. Ted Suarez Father of David S. Suarez February 16, 2013

Dave was one of the most kind hearted people I've ever known. His smile was contagious, his actions were second nature and heart overflowed with love. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been a classmate and friend of Dave's.

With the 10 year anniversary just a day away, I can't help but think of David. David was one of the first guys I got to know in my fraternity at Penn State. He had pledged a year before me but became a very good friend. In the last few days, I've seen quite a few lists of those lives lost on that day, and as I read David's name, I am brought to tears - remembering what a great man he was. We miss you Dave.

I can't believe its been exactly 9 years since Dave was tragically taken from this world. God must have a special purpose for you in his house now. But, I wanted to show my respects to you Dave on this day to show that even though it's been 9 years that we have not forgotten about you. I remember hanging with you at lunch in WWP. Can't believe that things like this still happen in htis world. But, death is merely stage in life, you have acsended to the calling of God and if Iknow you well enough, I know you are serving God the best you can, with honor and integrity. You were always one of the few friends I made in WWP that I respected. Your physical might be gone but, your memory still lives on strong. We shall see you again, when God calls for us so take care and keep up the hard work you still represent til this day.

I only met Dave a couple of times, through my friendship with his sister, Kristen. What I experienced in those few meetings was a man with an infectious smile, a wonderful personality, and an amazing love for his family. David was a fine young man, and one who left an everlasting mark on those with whom he shared his time on Earth. God bless David, as well as his wonderful, welcoming family as they continue his legacy.

I think I wrote an article about David a few years ago for my local paper (unless there was more than one David Suarez killed that horrible day). I met someone who knew him and he told me some stories about him. Inspiring. Hope I served his memory well. God bless. Sept. 11 about humanity, not political agendas I never met David Suarez, but I miss him. He had aspirations of going to Harvard. He worked in a soup kitchen and for the group New York Cares. And he never turned away someone in need. One time, he walked out of a bar and met a man begging in a wheelchair. “What can I do to make you happy?” David asked. “Give me $20,” the man replied. David did. The man stood up, folded up his wheelchair and walked away. David didn’t yell or go after the man. “I’d rather lose $20 here or there to an impostor than burn someone in need,” David said. David also worked as a consultant. He had a job he was supposed to finish Sept. 14, 2001, at the World Trade Center. That job was never completed. Now David is among those in a book called Portraits: 9/11/01, a set of biographies of people who died September 11, 2001, compiled by the New York Times. His story and the thousands of others in the book were read out loud by volunteers Sept. 11, 2004, near the site where the Twin Towers stood. When I visited New York City Sept. 9 through 12, I didnt know what to expect. The words September 11 were barely uttered my first two days in the city. I worried when I went to Ground Zero Saturday that it would be a battleground of war propaganda and presidential election fodder. Sadly, that worry was realized. A truck laden with hateful remarks toward terrorists with a fake bomb strapped to the top saying it was for Osama sat parked about 20 feet from the site. And while a fire truck called the freedom truck drove around projecting speeches about hope and caring for all people, a group stood nearby chanting “Four more years! Four more years!” I found, though, as I walked around the site that these agendas were not the predominate sentiment of the day. Most people realized this was not a day that could be labeled as pro-Bush or pro-Kerry or even anti- or pro-war. It was a day to remember and honor — a day of humanity, not political agendas. A day where people lit candles to honor loved ones and a man played “Amazing Grace” on his flute, while leaning on a fence full of names of those lost. A day to honor Brian Warner, whom his friends and family called Inspector Gadget because of his willingness to go and fix just about anything for others. And Vanessa Wen, who grew up in Taiwan and had to be into work early the day of the attacks because she had to make up extra work because of layoffs in the company. And, of course, David. I was given the privilege to meet a man who knew David. Father John Fanning approached the readers and asked that they go back and read David’s story while he was there. I sat and watched him smile as he held the arm of a woman he met that day. She cried as the two stood in front of the empty space in the city landscape. One could say the attack on the Twin Towers was one against great Americans like David and the values of this country. But whatever the motives, the bottom line is the world lost a great human being. Those who died were humans first, Americans second. These were crimes against humanity, not just America. The world was hurt the day it lost David and the countless others like him. As a man on the freedom truck said into a megaphone over the crowd, “When you decide to love the world in your heart, you become a hero, too.” I’m sure David would agree.

I often wonder why? I often wonder why the events of 9/11 ever took place. Why David? Why any of the others? Why the pain? Why the suffering? For these questions I have no answers and perhaps never will in this life. One thing I do know. David lived. In so doing he touched all of us and we in turn touched him. In those moments as it were, an energy was exchanged, a memory formed and idea conceived, a spark flashed and for one instant the darkness was dispelled. Is that not what life is about? We the living who capture what was and is, and pass it on to others also in the process of becoming. Many have commented on David’s smile, his warmth his sincerity his ability to help others feel good, his bias for action. These qualities were real but they are also reflections of those same qualities and abilities that are present in us. Let us learn what we can from what we saw in him so that we too can touch others with that spark of light that dispels the darkness. Perhaps then we will not need to know the answers as to why 9/11? Why the pain? Why the suffering? We who are free to choose will have overcome, and in so doing, David and all those who came before us continue to live on in us. Ted Suarez Father of David S Suarez WTC1 floor 99

A Life Well Lived One day a life was formed Formed from love Formed to live The life was lived The warmth of love felt and given The love of life experienced Doing, being, touching Excellence, strength of body and soul A life of fun Tears, laughter Rain, Sun Motion, stillness A life that ran with the wind That climbed the mountains One that focused both on today and eternity To have tried and surrendered having no regrets To become one with God A Life Well Lived © Ted Suarez Father of David Suarez, WTC 1 floor 99

I know it been a few years now. I hope not one person ever forgets. However, I served our country in the U.S. Navy for four years, and it still bothers me to this day that something like this could of happened. When doing research on the many individuals who lost their life, I found you. When reading many biography's about your life, I just hope people realize how fortunately they were of to known you. Continue your rest in enternal peace. David W. Suarez Ohio

I never knew you, or any of you. But I've shed many tears. I always wondered what kind of people died in this tragic incident. I started working for Marsh about 2 months ago. I did not know they had lost so many collegues. Now, I know almost all of you because of what I have read these past 3 days. I felt compelled to leave you a note today this year 2006 and pay you a tribute, eventhough I never met you. I feel saddened because of all the suffering. I'm sure someone remembers you today and always.........

God bless you brother.