IN MEMORIAM -September 11

September 11, 2010 falls on Saturday, Shabbat Shuva, the sabbath which comes between Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur - the day of attonement. This is the season when we acknowledge G-d's rule over us, remember our covenant with him and his with us and blow the Shofar - the ram's horn to call us to introspection and repentance. Since I will not be posting on this Saturday (or any other) here are my tributes to two victims of that terror. 

This post is part of a memorial project called Project 2,996

Read more about it here. 
Last year JBloggers I"ll Call Baila, SuperRaizy and Westbankmama also participated in this September 11 memorial Project.

Last year I participated in Project 2,996 with a memorial post about Ronal John Hemenway who was killed when a hijaced commercial jet was purposely crashed into the Pentagon in Washington DC.. Read more here.

This year I went to the project site and found a list of victims who had no memorial posts associated with them. I chose randomly from the middle of the list.

MARGARET RUTH ECHTERMANN

Margaret R. Echtermann grew up in upstate New York and in September 2001 was living in Hoboken , New Jersey and commuting to her job as a leasing representative on the 93rd floor of the second World Trade Center tower. She was 33 years old and had spent the summer weekends in a rented house in the Hamptons where according to her sister Heidi, who was interviewed in the New York Times, she had fallen in love. Also, she was looking forward to moving to Boston where the company she worked for was about to transfer her. Margaret and Heidi spoke briefly just before the tower was hit. Margaret told her sister that she was OK and then a few minutes later the second plane hit Margaret's tower. 

At age 33 Margaret had a lot to look forward to in life. She intended to run a marathon and was described as tall and athletic. When you read the memorial notes in an online site dedicated to memorials (not just 9/11) you will see that some people signing the guest book rediscovered their connection to Margaret. They may have been neighbors when she was growing up in New York, or students alongside her in college. Some are connected because they are students of her father, another a co-worker from a former job and then there are the people to whom she showed a possible office space rental just the Friday before.  Each leaves a snapshot to help piece together the life that ended when the 93rd floor of the tower fell to the ground burning up along the way.

May her memory be blessed and be a blessing to us all. 

Crest of the September 11 Memorial Project