ORLANDO, Fla. — Neil Peraza was working at his office in Orlando when he first heard the news and hurried to find a TV.

Like most Americans, he saw the same images playing on an endless, horrific loop — two planes crashing into the World Trade Center.

The disaster was nightmarish in scale. Yet Peraza had only one person on his mind: His brother Rob. He worked as a bond trader on the 104th floor in the North Tower.

“I’m getting goosebumps now, just thinking about it,” he said last week.

Neil immediately called his father, who was thinking — hoping, perhaps — that his elder son worked in a different building.

“No, Dad. That’s Rob’s building. Get Mom. Get some clothes. Rob’s in real trouble.”

Rob Peraza died that day at the age of 30, along with 657 of his fellow employees at Cantor Fitzgerald, the finance firm that suffered the largest loss of life of any single organization that day.

And though Rob was just one of 2,977 total victims in the most devastating terrorist attack to ever occur on American soil, his story went viral a decade later when the family traveled to New York for the 10-year observance.

Rob’s father was caught on camera the moment he found his son’s name on the memorial. He dropped to his knees, placed his hands on his son’s name and began to pray.

ABC News would go on to say that Robert Peraza became “the face of grief.”

Another 15 years have since passed. So has the boys’ father.

This year — for the 25th remembrance — Neil will be in New York without his brother or his father.

For Neil, 53, every birthday is a reminder that he has lived another year longer than his brother ever did.

And today, as a nation, we will pause to remember people who are no longer here, but also a solidarity we no longer hold dear.

“This country came together like we’ve never seen,” Neil said. “Since then, we somehow forgot how to talk to each other. We don’t talk about the things we agree on. It’s either: I won or you cheated. That saddens me.”

In the face of such constant division, the married Hunters Creek father of three says the tragedy taught him was to look for common ground. And to let the people he treasures know how he feels.

“Invest in your relationships,” Neil said. “Don’t forget the ‘I love you’s.’”

One of the greatest gifts Neil’s brother gave him was an email he sent the week before he died. It ended with these six words: “Peace, love you very much brother.”

“It was the last communication I had with my brother,” he said.

Neil has tried to carry that practice with him, knowing that tomorrows are never guaranteed.

He and his sister have also tried to honor their brother by spreading the word about the joyful and helpful way Rob lived.

“People don’t ever die if you keep their memories alive,” Neil said.

Rob was athletic and gregarious. He loved rugby and making people laugh. “He could make friends anywhere with anybody,” his brother said. “He was always good for a chuckle or a good jab.”

The brothers grew up in upstate New York and frequently played sports together. Neil admits with admiration that his brother usually won, saying: “I think I took one set of tennis off him in our entire lives.”

But rugby was Rob’s passion. He loved playing at St. Bonaventure University. So after he died, his family couldn’t think of a better way to honor him than setting up a scholarship at the school for other students who played.

Neil obviously doesn’t know precisely what his brother was doing when the planes struck. He likes to imagine that he was talking with co-workers about something he loved. Probably sports. Maybe fantasy football or the recently completed U.S. Open.

But one thing his family knows is that Rob’s life wasn’t just lost, it was taken, violently and intentionally. “I don’t like the word ‘loss’ when talking about these victims,” he said. “They weren’t ‘lost.’ They were murdered.”

Today, Neil stays focused on keeping his brother’s memory alive. Not only by telling his own daughters that he loves them as often as possible, but by making sure they know everything possible about the uncle they never met.

That’s one of the main reasons Neil still speaks about Rob in the present tense, saying: “He will always be my brother for the rest of my life.”

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