9/11: Remember and Honor--Terence J. Manning

To commemorate 9/11 this year, I decided to participate in Project 2996, which I found through westbankmama. Project 2996 is an attempt by Dale Challener Roe to have bloggers remember and celebrate the lives of all 2,996 victims of September 11. I know other Jewish bloggers are participating in this project, including Isramom and SuperRaizy. (If you are remembering and would like me to link your post, drop me a line).

I have chosen to remember and honor Terence J. Manning, who died while attending a conference at Windows on the World at 1 World Trade Center. His wife, Megan was a colleague of mine at HASC, a pre-school for special-needs children. I never met Terence, but from all accounts, he was a unique, energetic man, who proposed to Megan under the Eiffel Tower. He was a doting father to his two young daughters, whom he used to take to the beach every day in the summer.

On September 11, 2001, Megan was at work. I have a memory of hearing her talk to her husband, who told her he was in the stairwell trying to leave the building. Then she left work and didn't return for several months. Megan faced her devasting loss with grace and strength. It has been many years since I have seen Megan, but I do think of her often in the context of this day that changed her world, and our world forever. I will always carry her and her family in my heart.

Of Terence, Megan has said, "His life was full of laughter and adventure. He left us with no regrets."



(Source: New York Times Portrait of Grief)