Kennifer: Each of us has memories of 9-11 that are unique and personal. My memory is a painful one that I’ve shared with a few friends and I hope you don’t mind me sharing it with you. It’s a story about that day and my cousin Kenny and his wife Jennifer.

September 11th 2001: I was at home with my wife when my mom called to tell us about the first tower in New York being hit by a plane. We switched on the TV and watched numbly in disbelief along with millions of other Americans. Like everyone else here in America we were horrified as we watched the towers fall to the ground as people fled the scene in a state of panic.

Later that afternoon my mom called again and said that her sister Joanna had called and was worried that she hadn’t heard from her son Kenny that day, which was highly unusual. Kenny and his wife, Jennifer, were flight attendants for American Airlines and they were both working a flight headed from Dulles Airport to Los Angeles. My mom reassured her that they were fine and that the phone lines were jammed up and that they’d call soon enough.

Emotionally unable to call American Airlines herself my mom asked me to call and ask if they had any information about the two of them. I called and after a long wait to get through nervously asked about Kenny and Jennifer. The couple of minutes I waited for an answer were as long as any I’ve ever lived through. The answer I got made be jubilant. “There names aren’t on any of our lists”. I gleefully tried to get through to my mom and aunt by cell phone but without any luck.

Finally about an hour later I was able to get through to my mom to give her the fantastic news that they weren’t on the lists of the passengers on the flights that were hijacked that day. To my surprise my mom wasn’t excited to hear the news. She seemed skeptical for some reason and asked me to call the airline back to be sure they knew that they were both flight attendants.

I did call American Airlines again and fearfully asked if they would keep the names of flight attendants on a separate list. The woman answered in the affirmative. Trying to remain positive and hopeful even as my joy vanished I confidently gave the woman Kenny’s and Jennifer’s names. Within a few seconds she simply said “I’m very sorry”… changing our lives forever.

I called my mom to give her the news as I fought back the extreme sadness that I find myself fighting even as I write this. I offered to call my Aunt Joanna, but my mom said it would be better if she gave her the horrible news about her son and only child and his new bride Jennifer.

As the days passed and we learned more about the events of the day and about the beautiful couple Kenny and Jennifer had become the loss became even more magnified and unfortunately real.

They had met while working as flight attendants for American and had married a short time earlier. Although American had a policy of not allowing related flight attendants to work on the same flight they were allowed to because they were headed to California together to get started on a vacation they had planned for some time. The thought of them perishing together in this most unbelievable way is as comforting as it is horrifying. But I knew Kenny well and I’m certain he did everything in his power to keep Jennifer and the passengers as calm as possible even as their fate grew more apparent. Like my mom, my aunt, and the rest of the extended family in Farmville Kenny was quite religious and was no doubt gracious each minute of that flight to everyone on board including the terrorists.

Obviously I’ll never forget my cousin and his bride “Kennifer”. Nor will I ever forget the other victims and their families deeply affected by the events of that day. Finally, I want the men and women in our military to know how much their bravery and courage mean to me and our entire family. Their sacrifice and their families sacrifice has earned our undieing respect, as well as, taught the world a valuable lesson… an attack on any American is an attack on all Americans and we will stand up for our brothers and sisters.

Never forget.