Where Were You On 9/11? I will Never Forget

Where were you on 9/11 nine years ago? I was on the couch watching the news when it was interrupted by the report a plane had hit the one of the twin towers. At first it seemed like an accident. There was so much confusion. Then the second plane hit. Such horrifying sights. Husband and I had been together only a few weeks when this happened and he got on a plane to attend my friends husbands funeral. He was killed that day along with the rest of his colleagues at Cantor Fitzgerald. His wife Michelle was a childhood friend. Here's her tribute to him:

"Pete had such a beautiful spirit. Pete loved life and he was filled with a never-ending enthusiasm that he extended to each and every person that he met. Anyone who met Pete-even just in passing-walked away thinking "what a great guy". He was the most genuine, generous, happy and fun loving person I have ever known and we are better people for having had him in our lives.
There was not a part of Pete's life that he did not enjoy. He loved his job at Cantor Fitzgerald and the excitement and challenges that came with it. He loved our life in Bronxville and the close friends that we have made these past five years. And to Pete's friends from Villanova were the brothers he never had.
As a husband, Pete always made me feel so special. The sparkle in his eye gave me so much happiness and we had such joy in all that we did and all that we shared. When I married Pete he made a good life great and I will miss him unspeakably every day for the rest of my life.
As a Father, I can only say that his spirit goes on in Jack and Griffin. Nothing was more important to Pete than the time he spent with the boys whether it was fishing, bike riding, his recent camping overnight with Jack-or simply walking around with Griffin on his shoulders. He always looked forward to coaching little league, boy scouts, football games and being an influential part of their lives.
If we can remember all of the ways Pete touched our lives, and pass it on to his boys, then his spirit will live on in them. It is so important to me that his children know just how special he was- so please share his life with them...as I will do every day.
And finally, as Pete died on my birthday I feel the need to recognize his life as my biggest gift. He is the finest person I have ever known and as short as my time was with him was, I am forever blessed for having loved him."




Michelle, Wife
  Yes, her husband died on her birthday. She will never forget. I will never forget. Where were you? What is your story?

11 comments:

Jessica Ryan said...

a lovely post! XOXO

I wrote about Cantor as well... their loss of employees as well as the loss of their grand art collection...

and a little bit about Todd's Point!

DawnW said...

Wow, what an amazing woman to be able to look at it that way. What a beautiful spirit she has!

Annie said...

Hugs to you and Michelle! What a moving post. We truly will never forget.

Suburban prep said...

What a loving tribute to a man she loved.

I remember that day as my birthday is the day before. My husband and I were going to go out the day after my birthday because the place we wanted to go to is not open on Mondays. We ended up not going out.
But I remember getting a call from my boss and stating not to come in as he was not going to open that day (or the next few days as it turned out).
My brother-in-law worked in tower two. But far the grace of God he was on his honeymoon.

Melissa said...

That's so incredibly sad that your friend's husband died on her birthday :(

I was a senior in high school and I was sitting in math class when someone came in and told our teacher that one of the towers had been hit. Obviously no more math was done that day and we were all wondering what was going on. We had maybe 10 minutes left of class, then we all headed straight for the library to watch news coverage and we were all shocked at what was happening. Being from Fairfield County, CT, we are very close to NYC and a lot of kids' parents worked in the city, so they let us go home around 11:50 because they knew a lot of kids were worried about their families (parents working in NYC that had kids in the high school were all fine. One girl's dad was supposed to be working in one of the towers that day, but his flight home from the Mid-West got delayed and he didn't make it to NYC in time thank goodness.) I went home and watched the news with my mom and I can remember how shocked we were that this was happening.

bevy said...

My youngest son was only two weeks old and my (then) husband was on a business trip. I was staying with my parents. He called to tell us to tuen on the television. Stunned, we then watched as the second plane hit. Numbness was all we felt.

I have been thinking about it off and on all day. The photos still make me cry.

bevy said...

My youngest son was only two weeks old and my (then) husband was on a business trip. I was staying with my parents. He called to tell us to tuen on the television. Stunned, we then watched as the second plane hit. Numbness was all we felt.

I have been thinking about it off and on all day. The photos still make me cry.

Claire said...

Thank you for posting this - I was in Charleston with my husband at the Veteran's Hospital for his appointment. The stillness in the hospital was unbelieveable and not being able to reach my daughters was very hard. We will never forget! I had never thought of the lost art until I read Entertaining Mom's post and I went online to read about it.

Anonymous said...

What a touching story.

Pink Flamingo said...

Goosebumps and tears...what a touching tribute to her husband!! I will never forget all the details of 9/11/01...I was in Tampa, Fl that tragic day. My heart breaks for your friend, as well as for all the families and friends whose love ones were lost. We will never forget!! God Bless America!!

Sheila Fretz said...

Such a sad day. I was home in bed and my Mom called and told me to turn on the news and there it was, I was just paralized, watching when the 2nd plane hit the tower. I will never forget it was like watching a horor film but I and everyone else in the United States of America was living in it!