Editor's Note: Tribute

Our thoughts were first with the planes. In a profession as airborne as this one, we feared that some of you might have been aboard one of the four hijacked jetliners involved in the September 11th attacks. In a matter of hours, those fears were realized.
Ever since that morning, we have looked for ways to better grasp the loss of life. It's a loss multiplied by how young many of the families those who died left behind are. Like all of you, our thoughts are with their loved ones, particularly the children, who will never receive the attention and adoration that only a devoted parent can offer.
In the coming months, we've reserved some space for any words you would like to share about a consulting colleague who was lost during the tragedy. We've published some of your thoughts beginning in this issue, in a special section titled Tribute.
Given that these people were consultants, we tend to believe we know something of their professional lives. But the effect of reading your words is to realize that too often we focus only on the profession's outer edges. Through your words we have learned something about the character of the consulting profession and the type of people it attracts and who thrive within it. We never would have wanted to learn it this way, but what we've learned, we now treasure.
Years from now, when those of you who lost a colleague on September 11th become scattered across the wrinkles of time, perhaps your words in print may reveal something new to a child about a parent they hardly knew.
Having said this, we too feel that there are a few things we know about these people, and we would likewise like to share them with those who may be too young to realize all of what's been lost.
First, your father or mother worked beside bright, competitive people. He or she set high goals and had achieved an ambition or was on his or her way to achieving it. Your parent excelled in a collaborative working environment that rewarded team-spirited people.
He or she was an aspiring or veteran problem-solver, whose biggest nemesis was the clock. There were never enough hours in the day for all that he or she wanted to accomplish.
And at the end of day, more than likely, his or her biggest regret was not having spent more time with you.
More than anything, your parent had a thirst for knowledge, and he or she would never want you to stop learning about the world.
Your parent was not necessarily a doctor, lawyer, CEO, or astronaut, but he or she was a member of a thriving, knowledge-hungry profession.
Your parent was a consultant.