Some hours following 9/11, my wife Claire noticably weakened in her gallant and courageous year and one-half effort to subdue the terrorist enemy within her.

Although Anna Quindlen likens her remembrance of the wholy demolished Twin Towers to the loss of life suffered there, there is no perfect metaphor to understand the grief of losing a loved spouse or child during that calamitous time frame which now is so permanently etched in ones mind....

My wife died of ovarian cancer soon afterwards..... Quindlens words demonstrate the kinship I feel towards those helpless people who died so suddenly without a fighting chance that dreadful day.

I didn't realize you were experiencing a double dose of misery this fall. I'm so sorry for your loss. May you find strength in the Great Comforter in the new year.

Thank you for your kind and meaningfull words...
My wife is in good company,what with the heros of 9/11.

Some remember the instaneous loss of the Twin Towers with awe, and then come to the realization that they are indeed gone,but somehow ,not forever- as they are but structures of mankind that can be rebuilt ,if need be.
Such as it is with worldly possessions.

But in a humble tribute to God, who can replace or rebuild the loss of a loved one?
Tenderly loving a husband or a wife or a child ,right now, this moment, is such a precious personal commodity of being alive and well that it is often ,or sometimes in too many cases taken for granted.

Just ask any survivor of 9/11.

Tenderly loving a husband or a wife or a child ,right now, this moment, is such a precious personal commodity of being alive and well that it is often ,or sometimes in too many cases taken for granted.

I agree with you completely. To love the way that God intends us to is a rare priviledge because we are so busy trying to live. To Love is to live. I have been married 40 yrs and am still learning to love. It is at once wonderful and frightening. It changes constantly but is always the same.

God bless you with His Presence to ease the pain.