Published 16:21, September the 12th, 2008
Bravery, and hope
Seven years removed from the day that changed their lives forever, family members of local 9/11 victims echoed a theme yesterday at the State House.
Hope.
“Without hope there would be very little meaning in our lives,” said Christie Coombs, whose husband was on American Airlines Flight 11. “Hope is what has gotten us through the last seven years.”
Rina E. Zarba lost a nephew that day but still found enough to pen a positive poem moments later.
“We will keep alive the memory of your birth,” Zarba wrote of Christopher Zarba, choosing not to dwell on what took his life at the age of 47.
While positive memories are held sacred, tears still flow. They came as 16-year-old Katie Mayhew moved the room with a rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine,” and again during a video tribute to victims.
In between, mourners cheered Benjamin Papapietro, recipient of the Madeline “Amy” Sweeney Award for Civilian Bravery — named for the flight attendant on Flight 11 who called in key information on the hijackers.
Papapietro, 19, was on one of the trains in the T’s fatal Green Line crash in May. After safely embarking, he raced to the muffled cries of a trapped woman, shielded her face from acrid smoke and held her hand until help came.
In keeping with 9/11 and its heroes, Papapietro introduced a second theme — humility.
“I’m just really happy the woman I helped, Min Perry, is OK,” he said. “That’s all that matters.”
