Twelve years on ?

I have been looking at old entrys I made in my journal,back in the good old days of AOL journals ,I was able to migrate my journal over to blogger,well the words ,unfortunately not all the pictures survived  ,and found the entry I posted on September 10th 2006 

 

This was the entry I did a year ago today , In that year we have lived and laughed and loved we've cried ,smiled and the whole range of emotions , We have seen the seasons change ,,and for Johns family another year has gone by ,I know from experiance that it  still hurts ,but with each year you get some sort of strengh to carry on ,but how Frances and the girls are coping ,given the horror of what took John away from them I cant begin imagine ,after doing this entry last year I think of John often ,and my love goes out to his family ................................................................................................................... When journalists were invited to do a dedication,to a victim of 9/11,I thought about it and decided I would like to pay a tribute ,to one of these brave people ,It has however become a very moving thing to do ,and as I have researched this my heart has become heavier and heavier ,John has become so real to Maurice and I, of course we couldnt know him ,but it so important,to bear in mind ,many people did know and love him and be mindful of their grief ,then and now.

  John was one of,that number of people !
He was a married man,with two daughters ,how they must miss him .He was fourty nine.
There has been alot of TV  coverage ,on the disaster that started the millenium off. and we have been watching it all ,The New york fire Brigade had been featured on a film some Rooky firemen were making at the time ,and as it coincided with the disaster they decided to carry on ,and as you see from the above pictures John's picture was also featured .Here is the tribute left by his wife

 

John Santore

World Trade Center

Spoiling the Girls

When the Santores traveled, a few things always accompanied them: candles and two Champagne glasses wrapped in a towel. The candles were store-bought; the glasses were a relic. They were the same glasses John A. Santore and Frances Scarselli used to drink to their happiness the night he asked her to marry him. Mr. Santore asked the waiter if he could keep them.

Both the candles and the glasses were necessary tools for Mr. Santore, a firefighter with Ladder Company 5 on Staten Island, the father of two girls, 20 and 13, and a romantic.

"He would set the table withthe candles and the flowers and the wine and then cook for us," Mrs. Santore said. "We are three girls in the home, so he would always spoil us."

On weekend mornings, Mr. Santore would run to a deli to buy coffee and croissants for the family so they would not have to cook. During the week, he would often surprise his wife with a bunch of wildflowers.

When someone mentioned the need for a maritime museum on Staten Island to honor John Noble, a famed local artist, Mr. Santore, 49, formed what he called the Noble Crew to build it, his wife said.

"He was wonderful with his hands," she said. `There was nothing he couldn't do."

Profile  published in THE NEW YORK TIMES

 

 And here is a lovely picture I found of John off duty

 

 

John it was my honor to be assigned  to you ,as my victim you became my hero,and I shall think of you often ,and I send very special love to your wife Frances and  your daughters
......Jan xx


{As you can see ,from the little boxes with the crosses in them , many pictures  and graphics ,didn't  survive the migration from journals to blogger.....but in keeping with that time ,I have snagged my header graphic from Donna  in the USA  ,Thanks Donna  ,so many of my journal entrys were enhanced by your work }

Then I found this entry I posted about that awful time ,I was still at work at the time I am talking about , and I think this was about a week after  the tereble event . it was in fact  dated September12th 2005

 

Lest we forget

Following the terrible events of September the eleventh,we were all in a state of shock ,of disbelief ,as was the rest of the civilised world,The news reports coming ,minute by minute.It was all totally beyond our comprehension.My poor residents,some of whom had been born during the first world war,had fought in and survived the second ,now this,why? was a question I was often asked and couldnt answer.We some how got through the following days,spirits were low.It was proposed we all,at a certain time and day,all over the world  should observe a two minutes silence,(I forget now quite when it was)As the suggested time was to be at a time when we wouldnt normally be  all together.I suggested we all meet in the community room.I told them I would like them to bring along with them a floral tribute,Iwanted a them to do an arrangement in their thimbles!Do you know some of these were beautiful,those that hadnt got a thimble used the little china ones , you know ,a present from Skegness type of thing,even the men took part,you can see what I was up to cant you ?keep them distracted, it nearly worked .So with all our flowers and candles on a table.............I suggested we all now kept the silence for two minutes whilst we remember in our prayers.........With my eye on my watch...... I rehearsed in my mind what I should say ,when I broke the silence  ,(what a strange situation to find myself in,can you imagine it?)The Good Lord , gave me the words.For which I give thanks.            Janxx

I cant  say the world has become a better place ,I have lost count of the human misery that has occured since 9/11 The wars ,conflicts,disasters .....good things have happened too ,We must stay positive ,live a good life ,love one another ,help each other ,Other wise what is the point ?