2002 Reflections on 9/11

A few years ago I shared my thoughts on 9/11 with friends in an e-mail. I decided to post it in my blog, as that day affected so many Long Islanders.

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It’s hard to believe that it will be a year since the tragic events of September 11, 2001. I know I have been through a range of feelings and thoughts these last 12 months, as I’m sure all of you have. While I was one of the fortunate ones who didn’t lose any family members or friends, I’m still affected by the fact that we were robbed of so many people. It’s been interesting to read some of the profiles that have appeared in the Long Island newspaper “Newsday”. As you read these stories, you are struck not so much by the number of people who passed away that day, but by the number of dreams and goals that were shattered, and most of all the number of people that each of these beings touched in their lives.

There are so many stories out there, but for me there are a few that stand out because I know a little bit more than what I have read in the papers or seen on television. When you’re learning about a person’s life through the media, his life may almost seem fictional. But through friends, acquaintances and memories of my school days, I realize just how real the people of 9/11 are. This September 11, I hope you will keep the following people, especially their loved ones who are left behind, in your thoughts and prayers.

There’s my friend Lola’s cousin Harry Ramos. Harry was a trader with May Davis in the World Trade Center’s south tower, and he was the only May Davis employee to die on September 11. He and his co-workers were traveling down the staircase from the 87th floor, when Harry encountered a stranger on the 57th floor who was having trouble descending the stairs. Harry and one of his co-workers decided to help the man, but after another twenty flights the stranger couldn’t travel any further. Harry told his co-worker to go ahead and he would keep the stranger company. Harry was never seen again, and on that day he left behind a wife and two children.

Then there is Angel Juarbe from my friends Lindsay and Jeanette’s neighborhood in the Bronx. Angel was a firefighter with Ladder Company 12 in the Chelsea section of Manhattan and the winner of the FOX television show “Murder in Small Town X”. One look at a photo of Angel, who is featured in the 2003 New York Firefighters’ calendar, and you know he was a beautiful person on the outside. But one look at an article about him or talking to his cousin Gladys like I have, you’ll find he was also a beautiful person on the inside. He was always quick to help out a stray animal or play with the kids in the neighborhood, and he always encouraged the children in his life to stay in school. Angel was last seen running towards the south tower after evacuating the nearby Marriott hotel. There’s probably a lot of things FOX or Angel’s family could have done with the money that he won from “Murder in Small Town X”, but they have decided to create a scholarship fund with it. Once it is established other people will be able to contribute to it, and every year Angel’s mom will grant a scholarship to a student attending one of the schools he attended. It’s what Angel would have wanted.

Out of everyone who was lost that day, it seems I have been affected most by the passing of two of my former classmates from the Hauppauge High School Class of 1986 – John Tipping and Joseph Perroncino. I was extremely shy in school, so I wasn’t a friend to either of them. Joseph was simply a familiar face in the halls of Hauppauge’s middle and high schools. As for John, he and I attended school together from 4th to 12th grade. He was one of the children of Forest Brook, and he always had a boyish face and a twinkle in his eyes. Despite the fact we never became friends, there is something haunting about losing someone you went to school with. It’s hard to explain those feelings, but I can tell you I feel a great sense of unfairness. John and Joseph should be at our 20th reunion in a few years talking about things like their careers, significant others, children and other memorable events. When I think of Joseph and John is when I get the angriest.

I can’t help but feel we were robbed on that day when Joseph, who was described as the backbone of his family in “Newsday”, was at work at Cantor Fitzgerald probably thinking it was a typical day. He was just doing his job; he didn’t choose to die for the American Dream at the hands of religious zealots, but yet he did.

John, a firefighter with Manhattan’s Ladder Company 4, was among countless of firefighters, police officers and emergency workers who somehow were able to do their job even in the face of such unexplainable evil. On September 10 while fighting a fire, John suffered a corneal abrasion when debris hit him in the eye. It was late by the time he was treated at the hospital so he decided to stay over at his firehouse. Despite the fact that his injury placed him on a medical leave of absence, while walking out the door the next day John heard the alarms and he hopped on a fire truck. It’s what any firefighter would have done. On October 14 a couple of friends and I attended one of John’s memorials at the main firehouse in Hauppauge. The amount of people in attendance, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was overwhelming. Many of those attending were former classmates of mine and John’s, and if there was any time that one wished a simple word or a touch of a hand could heal, it was that day. John’s body was found on March 12, 2002 along with the bodies of other members of Ladder 4. His brother-in-law and father were able to carry his flag-draped stretcher from Ground Zero. It’s a task that no father should ever endure.

A range of feelings has been felt this year -- way too many to include in one e-mail. But for all of you I hope whatever pain you have felt this year, has eased. I know it will never go away completely, but I hope it has eased somewhat. As for the lessons we have learned since that day, I hope we keep them forever. It shouldn’t have taken such tragedies to make us realize how fortunate we are to be Americans, and to make us look around at everything we have and at everyone in our lives and realize how lucky we are, but that’s the past. Now it’s time to forge ahead stronger, smarter and with more gratefulness in our hearts and guarantee that those who passed away on September 11 didn’t die in vain. I hope if you know of anyone that died that day, you will let everyone you encounter know about him or her. And now that you know of Harry Ramos, Angel Juarbe, Joseph Perroncino and John Tipping, I hope you won’t forget them.

As for those who died on that day, a dream of mine brings me comfort. In this dream I was standing with someone and there was John Tipping. I said something to the other person about John being a New York City firefighter and something to the effect that we had to be respectful of him. John turned to me and said, “Rita, thanks, it’s okay.” I woke up with the dream fresh in my head, and the first thing I thought was that John said, “It’s okay.” I would like to believe that, that where ever they all are it’s okay. I have a feeling that it is.