Mi Tributo

September 11, 2001 took the lives of many loved ones. People we knew, people we might have known had they lived. We all felt the impact, the force of destruction and death, as it left us vulnerable and feeling so very mortal. There are two people I would like pay tribute to, on this somber five-year anniversary. One, a childhood friend. The other, the daughter of someone I was close to during those years when I was trying to make my way into the professional career-world.

The Mother and Daughter.
Mary Wainio had an easy, ready laugh. She had that sparkle in her eye that told you she was up to something. Whether it was bringing her famous brownies or chocolate cake to the office, or making me a pot of her famous Baltimore spaghetti, she loved life and those around her knew it. I met Mary when she moved down from Baltimore to Atlanta to work at the office of a group of research hematology-oncology doctors. I worked there too and we became fast friends. She always talked proudly about her kids, Tom and Beth. And she quickly made me into her surrogate Atlanta-daughter. I'm not one to pass up a surrogate mom, and we hit it off. During that awkward 6-week period between apartments and the wedding, Mary opened up her home to me, for free, and it was great to come home to her and her two sweet kitties. Mary too found love and was married to Jay soon after. Tom and Beth couldn't make the ceremony at the courthouse, so her Atlanta kids stepped in - Kevin and me. She later had a small, joyful reception and I had the privilege of meeting her children - I felt like I knew them so well. Honor Elizabeth Wainio had an easy smile, like her mother, that lit up her eyes. She had gone to college in Baltimore and I learned later was working for the Discovery Channel stores as a district manager in New Jersey. Beth did very well for herself and Mary was so proud of her. She had the opportunity to take a dream trip to Europe for two weeks to visit friends in Paris and Italy. She had just returned from this trip and was heading to San Francisco for a business trip. At the last minute, she decided to change her flight to take a direct flight to San Francisco, a decision that changed our lives forever. You see, she was on Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania. Her mom has lost that sparkle in her eyes. She lost it on that fateful day on September 11, 2001, when she said farewell to her daughter.


The Childhood Friend
He was a sweet boy, with the cutest freckles across his nose. I had just arrived from Puerto Rico to Perth Amboy, NJ and was so happy to see other fellow Boricuas in the classroom with me. Richie was in my classes from 2nd grade until high school. He was always friendly and caring, and an awesome drummer! I lost touch with him during high school when he went on to vocational-technical high school and then I later moved to Florida. Traumatized about what happened on September 11th, a few weeks later I was scouring the pages that listed the names of victims from the World Trade Center. I came across Richie's name and his picture and my heart stopped. I couldn't believe it was him. I quickly emailed old friends from NJ- Elias, Nanette, Migdalia to verify what I was reading. Yes, it was Richard. Though I hadn't seen him in over 16 years, my memories took me back to my second grade classroom and a sweet boy who befriended a non-english speaking girl in pigtails. I learned from the memorials written about Richard that he worked for the New Jersey - New York Port Authority. That he had turned into quite a worker for the community, working for the volunteer fire department and emergency squad, and as an instructor at the police academy. I was listening to NPR one afternoon in October 2001, when the commentators were interviewing police officers who were at the World Trade Center and had survived. One of the police officers was talking about those last minutes before the towers fell, and he mentioned the officers who were with him. He mentioned that Richard was behind him, as well as a few others. And it all came home to me that day, me sitting so comfortably and safe in my car, listening to the radio. At that moment I grieved for Richard and his family. And I gave thanks for his unselfish sacrifice.