| Subject: As 9/11 Approaches.... |
Author:
SeaBat
[Edit]
|
Date Posted: 09/ 8/08 11:01:03
I am posting my annual remembrance of Todd...
May God give peace to all of those who were affected by that attack on America... and give rest to the souls who died. Please remember all of them in your prayers.
Todd.. We miss you...
TWO THOUSAND ONE, NINE ELEVEN (2001-9-11)
Two thousand one, nine eleven
Three thousand plus arrive in heaven
As they pass through the gate,
Thousands more appear in wait
A bearded man with stovepipe hat
Steps forward saying, "Lets sit, lets chat"
They settle down in seats of clouds
A man named Martin shouts out proud
"I have a dream!" and once he did
The Newcomer said, "Your dream still lives."
Groups of soldiers in blue and gray
Others in khaki, and green then say
"We're from Bull Run, Yorktown, the Maine"
The Newcomer said, "You died not in vain."
From a man on sticks one could hear
"The only thing we have to fear.
The Newcomer said, "We know the rest,
trust us sir, we've passed that test."
"Courage doesn't hide in caves
You can't bury freedom in a grave,"
The Newcomers had heard this voice before
A distinct Yankees twang from Hyannisport shores
A silence fell within the mist
Somehow the Newcomer knew that this
Meant time had come for her to say
What was in the hearts of the five thousand plus that day
"Back on Earth, we wrote reports,
Watched our children play in sports
Worked our gardens, sang our songs
Went to church and clipped coupons
We smiled, we laughed, we cried, we fought
Unlike you, great we're not"
The tall man in the stovepipe hat
Stood and said, "Don't talk like that!
Look at your country, look and see
You died for freedom, just like me"
Then, before them all appeared a scene
Of rubbled streets and twisted beams
Death, destruction, smoke and dust
And people working just 'cause they must
Hauling ash, lifting stones,
Knee deep in hell, but not alone
"Look! Blackman, Whiteman, Brownman, Yellowman
Side by side helping their fellow man!"
So said Martin, as he watched the scene
"Even from nightmares, can be born a dream."
Down below three firemen raised
The colors high into ashen haze
The soldiers above had seen it before
On Iwo Jima back in '45
The man on sticks studied everything closely
Then shared his perceptions on what he saw mostly
"I see pain, I see tears,
I see sorrow -- but I don't see fear."
"You left behind husbands and wives
Daughters and sons and so many lives
are suffering now because of this wrong
But look very closely. You're not really gone.
All of those people, even those who've never met you
All of their lives, they'll never forget you
Don't you see what has happened?
Don't you see what you've done?
You've brought them together, together as one.
With that the man in the stovepipe hat said
"Take my hand," and from there he led
three thousand plus heroes, Newcomers to heaven
On this day, two thousand one, nine eleven.
Author Unknown...
"One thing is clear: Todd Christopher Weaver was an adventurous man. This was not a man who drifted through life waiting for it to happen; instead, Todd was the sort to wrestle life to the ground and make it beg for mercy (in a happy coincidence, he was born on New Year’s Eve). He died a young man of 30, yet his biography reads like that of a man in his sixties.
This was a man who took his college sweetheart, Amy Lawson, all the way to Japan, where he taught for a year; upon his return to Chicago, he became the youngest senior consultant in the history of J.H. Ellwood and Associates; and he was, incredibly, a vice president with Fiduciary Trust Company International at the age of 30, with an office on the 94th floor of the World Trade Center’s South Tower that day that United Airlines Flight 175 crashed though the 78th - 84th floors in the most-viewed moment in history.
His is not the face of an arrogant man, though; indeed, an instant likeability radiates from his bespectacled visage. He looks like a modern-day Richie Cunningham: smart, nice, and sociable (Scott Kenagy, who worked with Todd, remembers his dry sense of humor and the respect he commanded from his coworkers; Bill Rauckhorst, who taught Todd at Miami of Ohio, remembers him as very bright and personable). He had a taste for New Order and PIL, we learn from a friend’s remembrance, so it’s safe to assume he liked to dance; we also know he was an athlete at the Western Reserve Academy, the prestigious boarding school for high-schoolers in Hudson, Ohio, wearing the number 54 (WRA has a memorial scholarship in his honor).
Of course, no one reaches the level of success that Todd reached without a lot of drive, and he was competitive, in a wholesome way:
Once, on a skiing trip with his wife and his in-laws, Todd Weaver discovered that he was not the best skier in the family. The best by far was his wife, Amy Lawson. “But he was determined that he was not going be beaten by anyone,” said his father-in-law, Ted Lawson. So Mr. Weaver studied up and took lessons, and the next year surprised everyone by blasting down the mountain, the proud new Best Skier of the Family, his brand-new bright yellow jacket clearly visible to all.
To my knowledge, we don’t know the details of Todd’s death that horrible day; we do know that only 18 people above the impact zone in the South Tower survived (though many had decided to leave before the second plane hit), so even a man as well-positioned to overcome the odds as Todd had little chance by the sheer fluke of his office location. Fiduciary Trust had offices on floors 90 and 94-97 of the South Tower, and lost 87 employees in the attack; altogether, 600 people lost their lives in the South Tower on September 11th.
I hope I’ve done at least a small amount of justice to the memory of one of them.
A native of Stark, Ohio, Todd is survived by his wife, Amy, and his parents, Marilyn and Dennis.
This September 11th, I don’t want to push any particular agenda; this is a day of mourning, not partisanship. I only have one thing I would like you all to keep in mind: each of these nearly 3,000 people was a unique individual. Not all were as accomplished as Todd, but all of them had a life snuffed short by an incredible act of cruelty. Pray for the souls of the departed, if you will, and pray for the continued recovery and solace of those who loved them, and thank God for every day that you have, good or bad, because tomorrow is not promised to any one of us, high or low, rich or poor.""
From a 9/11 Blog
"Todd Christopher Weaver was a 1993 graduate of Miami University in Oxford, OH. While working in Chicago, he earned his Certified Financial Analyst distinction and graduated from the University of Chicago with his MBA.
Todd and his wife, Amy, relocated to New York City in October 2000, when he joined Fiduciary Trust International.
He possessed a brilliant mind, and in his 30 years of life, left an indelible mark on all who knew him. Todd was fiercely competitive, whether in the business world or participating in his favorite sports, golf and snow skiing. He was dedicated and determined to succeed in every endeavor.
Todd was also a soft-spoken, caring man who had a passion for literature, music and wine. His loving wife Amy survives him.
You did not need to know Todd long to grasp the quality of his character or to imagine the possibilities in his future. They were bright. I think, in many ways, Fiduciary was a perfect fit for him. His role married different interests, gave him the opportunity to explore multiple areas of our business and lead in some of them. He was just beginning.
I can think of no higher compliment than to say I considered Todd Weaver to be a gentleman. He was well-rounded, compassionate, intelligent-even intellectual-passionately curious, respectful, kind and generous. Todd, we miss you immensely. The hole in our hearts is large and real. How fortunate were we to have known you and to have shared even this short part of our lives with you."
-Henry Johnson
Institutional Marketing
Joined Fiduciary on November 1, 2000
[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
|
|
Vietnam Vet inquiry
Kamakaze Attack on LST 472
