Ken Basnicki was a Toronto man, a husband, and a father of two. He was Financial Marketing Director for BEA Systems. In New York for a business meeting, he was last seen on the 106th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Some remains have been recovered. There is a grave in Collingwood, Ontario, at St. Mary's Cemetery. He was one of 24 Canadians killed on September 11, 2001, by Al Qaeda terrorists.

Those are the facts. But they don't really tell us much about the man, do they? The facts don't tell us that he loved his Harley. They don't tell us that the reason his memorial is in Collingwood is because that's where he built his dream home for he and his wife Maureen. They don't tell us that, even though he was 48 years old, he was a fanatical snowborder! He also golfed and skied.

The facts tell us that he had a son, Brennan, and a daughter, Erica. They don't tell us how much he cared about them, and how they felt in the wake of his death. The facts don't tell us of his dreams cut short, or of their nightmares.

Maureen and Erica are currently petitioning the Canadian government to pass legislation allowing victims of terrorism to sue the countries and organizations involved in terror, in order to financially cripple them. I wish these brave ladies well.

Ken's last contact with this world was in a cellphone call to his mother at 8:55 am, just 9 minutes after the plane struck the tower, to tell her that the place was full of smoke and he didn't think he'd find a way out.

Update - 10:04am, September 11th, 2006: Erica Basnicki's tribute to her father in Today's Sun.

It was there that I realized that I can't explain the significance of the fifth anniversary of 9/11, because the anniversary itself isn't significant. It doesn't matter whether it's the fifth, 12th or 402nd anniversary - five is just a number.

If you want significant numbers, here are just a few: 2,996 people were killed on 9/11, and only 174 bodies were found intact. Most of the people who died were young, between 35 and 39 years old. There are 193 countries in the world and 115 of them lost citizens that day, and the fires at Ground Zero burned for 99 days after the attacks.

Most significant of all, Canada lost 24 citizens that day.

One of them was my dad.