The date was set. The sparkling diamond ring had been picked. Gavin Cushny and Susan Brady of New York and New Jersey were to be married on October 26, 2001, on the Isle of Lewis at St Moluag’s, a medieval church nestled in the Outer Hebrides.

On September 10, there was a sigh of relief. Gavin called Susan from his New York office to tell her that 24 people in his department had been laid off, but he was safe. Their wedding was just weeks away, and the future they had imagined together seemed secure.

Then came September 11, 25 years ago, a day that changed so much for so many. Meteorologists and pilots used the aviation term “severe clear” to describe conditions of unlimited visibility that morning. The autumn sky above New York was clear and blue.

Gavin was working on the 104th floor of the North Tower. He survived the........

© Herald Scotland