On 9/11/01 a colleague of mine, who worked at Marsh & McLennan on the 100th floor of the WTC was lost. His name was Rick O'Connor. I can't claim to have known him exceptionally well...we had only worked together for a short time before he left for a new position. But we did work together quite a bit during that time and many of his characteristics remain fresh in my memory.
When talking he often placed his forefinger and thumb on his eyeglasses and jiggled them up and down on his nose. It was like a tick, but it was charming. He was an avid e-bay fanatic and went so far as to purchase a vintage car on-line for his teenage son. He was a tremendous family man and truly lit up when speaking of his wife and children.
At work, he had brilliant ideas and always thought outside the box...dragging me along with him. When I described him to my friend S today, she laughed and observed I tend to be moved by convincing arguments by others. She is so right about that. My first gut reaction to new ideas is usually resistance, but my immediate next thought tends to be, but if we were to do that - how would we do it??? Rick always brought that out in me.
Hard to believe it has been 6 years since his funeral. Every year on this date, I pull out his photo and post it up on my bulletin board. Everyone deserves to have someone remember them. Today, I remember Rick.
2 comments:
I too lost someone on 9/11 - my old manager from my previous job. He was such a sweetheart - my friend and self-appointed mentor. I was only 19 when he hired me, so he felt responsible for my wellbeing. He schooled me on a lot of things: lecturing me about the corporative world; giving me pointers on personal growth; badgering me endlessly about joining the union and company's 401K plan. Every morning he greeted me with, "Top of the morning - pop tall, kiddo!" He was a friendly, funny, energetic person who always had a word of encouragement or a funny story to share. He was also a practical joker - constantly pulled pranks around the office, and loved to make people laugh. After he was laid off, he found employment with another company in WTC. When the planes hit and he went missing, I knew right away he was gone. Why? Because whenever we had a fire drill, he'd never leave the building. Instead, he'd walk around the building, making sure all of the employees left. So I knew he'd be one of those who fought through WTC's chaos that day, trying to rescue as many people as he could. His wife confirmed this; he called her and told her he was safe and helping people get out. That was the last time she ever heard from him.
What makes this sad tale even more tragic is that years before they met, his wife's first husband had also died overseas at the hands of terrorists. I don't know all the details, but he shared that with me while we worked together.
I attended his memorial service and got dirty stares and open hostility because I am muslim. The pain was too raw. But I owed it to him to be there. He was my mentor, and he was my friend. And his wife - that strong, courageous woman - made a point of walking through the crowd, directly to me, and warmly embracing me. She whispered, "Thank you - it means a lot that you came, it means more that you stayed in spite of. You're a lesson in true tolerance. Pop tall, kiddo."
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