Somewhere else, someone posted this link with the title Memories of a Vanished Life and I can think of nothing more apt. Paul Battaglia was killed in the WTC attacks. His web site is still there, including views of/from his 100th floor office that he was rightly proud of, and a guestbook dating back to before the attacks.

I thought I was lucky not to have lost anyone in the attacks. This site makes me really realize that we all lost someone… some people just don’t really realize it yet.

Paul Battaglia was not a hero, a saint, a superman, or the subject of a segment on Sixty Minutes… he was just a good man who worked hard at school, got a good job, and went to work every day just like most of us. He took trips, kept a journal, posted photos, surfed the web– the same things I do every day. Then one day he went to work and in a moment he was gone. It gets no simpler than that. Not easy, but simple. An event with an unearthly clarity.

What about you? What would you leave behind if you were gone next week? You remember those things you were mad about today or yesterday? Your anger with a friend or family member? Your frustration with your job, your weight, your hobby, your art? Forget them. Now.