9/11 A Decade Later: Relatives Feel Renewed Sense Of Loss Over Holidays
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For most, the holiday season means getting to spend time with loved ones. But for the families of victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks, the holiday season can bring up difficult emotions. NY1’s Jon Weinstein visited with the families of three fallen firefighters to see how they commemorate their loved ones during the holiday season. George Cain was a firefighter with Ladder 7 in Manhattan, and never returned from responding to the Twin Towers on 9/11.
“I can’t imagine how 10 years have gone by that I haven’t seen him, that I haven’t hugged my son,” says Cain’s mother Rosemary.
Every day is a challenge for his mother, Rosemary Cain, but the holiday season is particularly difficult.
"It's something we live with everyday, but the holidays are very difficult,” she says. “It's very sad. We always have that empty chair. And my grandchildren don't have their uncle come to visit anymore."
To honor her son’s memory, Cain and other 9/11 families trim a tree near the World Trade Center site each year. For Margaret Cawley, visiting the tree helps her to honor her son, Michael, who had always aspired to be a firefighter.
“He was a walking logo for the NYC Fire Department – the turtleneck, the hat. Every picture you have, you see that it says FDNY,” says Cawley. “He just loved it so much.”
Her son was the only firefighter from Rescue 4 in Queens to perish on 9/11. The Cawleys have made a holiday tradition of doing good deeds in Michael’s name, like sending gifts to soldiers overseas.
“When you have children that you raised who are so responsible and caring and loving, you have the greatest gift that there can be. And so you want their legacy to go on,” she says.
For Al and Maureen Santora, Christmas without their son was devastating for several years after 9/11. Christopher Santora was just 23, one of the youngest firefighters to die in the attacks.
"This year, for the first time in nine years, we really decorated the house the way it used to be. So it took us that long,” says Maureen Santora.
With the help of their small grandchildren, The Santoras have begun to celebrate Christmas, again. Christopher's name is always on his families' lips, not just during the holidays, but year round.
"He's with us. He's with us all the time,” says Al Santora. “And it's not just the holidays. Our grandchildren know about Uncle Christopher and they always mention him in different ways. And it's nice that his legacy carries on in the young ones."