New York in November. Same gray sky as every year, same weight of the city pressing down on the memorial district, same 973,000 names on black granite walls extending the full perimeter of twelve city blocks.
Rama stood at the lectern at noon and looked at the crowd.
Two thousand people. Coalition personnel, city officials, journalists, families who came annually and families who came for the first time. Maya Chen in the third row. Emma beside her—the prosthetics engineer who had sent a message last year for him to read to the wall. Sophie beside Emma, college junior now, grown into someone Rama recognized from the Lagos memorial photo but still startling in person.
Forty cooperative entities at the perimeter. Second consecutive year of Coalition-entity joint ceremony.
