Title: "The Request"
Rating: K+
Genre: Family
Summary: Mac is asked to participate in the Ground Zero memorial ceremony.
Spoilers: "Consequences" (Season 3, Episode 8)
Disclaimer: I don't own CSI: NY or the characters therein. Just borrowing a couple to try and remind everyone to remember the families, friends, and loved ones of the 9-11 victims as they remember those who lost their lives six years ago. I also don't know how the relatives who read the names at the Ground Zero ceremony are selected.
The request was a total surprise to Mac Taylor. Every year at the Ground Zero 9-11 memorial ceremony, relatives of those lost read a partial list of the names of the deceased, ending with their own loved one. This year, Mac had been asked to participate.
"I don't understand," Mac inquired of the memorial committee's representative. "Why me? I've never been asked to read before."
The representative explained that Mac's name was suggested because not only was he the widower of a 9-11 victim, but he was also a NYPD detective. The committee felt this combination made Mac an ideal choice to be a reader.
Mac considered the request. He did feel it was a honor to be asked and he couldn't think of any reason not to do it, but the more he thought about it, the more he thought that someone else should be in his place. Someone who would be experiencing 9-11 in an entirely different way this year.
After the representative heard Mac's request and the reason behind it, she said she'd present the recommendation to the full committee, but didn't foresee any objections.
The day of the ceremony found Mac observing the young man he had suggested take his place. Mac couldn't have been prouder if the young man had been his own son. The list was nearly finished and Mac listened intently for the name he knew would be at the end.
Reed Garrett took a deep breath and read the last name. "... and my biological mother, Claire Conrad Taylor."
The End
