9/11 Remembrance: Christina Donovan Flannery
The Editors on Monday, Sep 11, 2006 @ 9:16 am
Part of the 2996 Project
We live lives of magic and wizardry. We spend our days consumed with concerns that generations before would find strange and unreal. We worry about getting a clear cell phone signal, or traffic tie ups, we obsess over interest rates and the price of a precious oily yellow- green liquid that you can’t drink, can’t wash with, can’t use to cook. The hardships we confront on a daily basis are those of a pampered, spoiled people, with the attendant majesty and pique of a pea disturbing the royal slumber.
Yet this is the great gift that our fathers and grandfathers and great grandfathers toiled and sweated and died to give us. This moment where we have the freedom to be petty or preoccupied or profound. Where the only worry we have about eating, is which of a hundred thousand boxes we will choose at the market.
It is easy for us to forget the soil below, which we cover in buildings and concrete and plantings and parking structures, and yet, there it is– still, hidden, obscured, forgotten, but eternally beneath. If it is bedrock, it supports everything we wish to do. If it is sandy or soft or undercut by hidden water, despite our elaborate plans and aspirations cracks will form in even the most ambitious and well- designed of our edifices.
So we wake up on a September morning, and watch evil remind us in no uncertain terms that though it can be covered, graded, trenched and forgotten, it will not be denied.
* * *
Christina Donovan Flannery worked on the 104th floor of Tower Two, at Sandler O’Neill and Partners. She was 26, newly married, and a fixed income sales associate for the firm, where she had worked for two years.
As usual, she spent the morning riding the subway into work with her husband, Brian. At the moment, they lived in Middle Village, Queens. But the contracts for the home they were purchasing– their first– were with their attorney. They would be signing soon. “We talked about it non- stop,” her husband said.
It was a dream address: 10 Cranberry Lane in Plainsville, on Long Island. A three bedroom split-level ranch. There would finally be enough room for their beloved dog Tye, an Akita German shepherd, to romp around. He was their “kid for now”, but they were looking forward to starting a family soon.
The move to the Long Island home, just around the corner from her in-laws, would be the first move out of Middle Village for Christina. Born August 10, 1975, the daughter of William and Catherine Donovan, she grew up with brother Billy and sister Kathleen. She attended Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Elementary School and Christ the King High School, where she was a star basketball and softball player.
“Everyone who knew Christina, loved Christina. Her smile and laughter [were] contagious,” said her brother. “She loved children, she loved family, she loved life.”
Even more than career, marriage had always been a dream for Christina. Her best friend Nicole Lagnese recalled how crashing weddings was a favorite hobby. “We used to drive around from church to church on Saturdays to see how other people had done it and get ideas for our own.”
Still, it was probably not the first thing on her mind when she went to Jones Beach on a first date with Brian Flannery, whom she had met on the trading floor of HSBC Bank USA. But just a few years later, in July 2000, she would be standing in the same spot as the sun was setting, when he asked her to marry him.
“She got joy out of helping others and seeing them happy,” her husband said. “Making other people happy was her happiness.”
The June wedding in 2001 was followed by a honeymoon in Hawaii.
By September, the couple had settled into the happy routine of commuting into work together. They split up each day near the end of their commute, when he went to his office in midtown– she to lower Manhattan and her job on the 104th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
After the first jet plunged into Tower One, Christina spoke to her husband Brian twice more by phone.
And then came 9:02:59 a.m., Sept 11, 2001.
United Airlines Flight 175 struck Tower Two.
* * *
“I don’t have my sister anymore, don’t have anyone to talk to. I talked to her about things I wouldn’t talk to my husband about.” Kathleen Fontana, Sister.
“We all miss Christina terribly, each one in a different way. I miss the phone calls and talks on the front stairs of the house the most.” Bill Donovan, brother.
“The world will never be the same without you. Your caring heart and your tender smile will forever be missed.” Rick Taiano, old friend
“If you had a down day, you’d just talk to her for five minutes, and she’d pick you up. Everybody who knew her just felt the same way.” William Donovan, Father.
“She made you believe anything was possible. She wasn’t afraid to dream because she made dreams come true.” Brian Flannery, Husband.
The Christina Donovan Flannery Scholarship Foundation has been established to help underprivileged children attend Catholic school. Donations may be sent to P.O. Box183, Old Bethpage, N.Y. 11804-0183.
[If you knew Christina, and would like to add or correct anything in this remembrance, please leave a comment. My apologies if I have gotten anything wrong. Published reports vary on certain details and dates, including Ms. Flannery’s birth date and the spelling of Kathleen Fontana/ Fontona.]
Others:
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I am proud to be a part of The 2996 Project, a blogosphere memorial to every single victim who died that terrible day. Bloggers were randomly linked to a 9-11 hero that they would then memorialize.
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The Christina Donovan Flannery Scholarship Foundation has been established to help underprivileged children attend Catholic school.
With all of the oil wealth of their countrymen, the Saudis and Egyptians that killed Christina could have spent the smallest fraction, on efforts like this.
Fine tribute.
God bless the loved ones left behind.
Great tribute, guys.
Thanks.
A beautiful tribute! Well done!
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Christina Donovan…in the prime of her life. I pray for the happiness and well-being of her family and friends, who live on without her physical presence in their lives; in shaping their future. Thanks for having the memory of the life she did live, touch the lives of the rest of us who did not know her.
What a beautiful tribute and what a sad loss.
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This is not the place to discuss anything but Christina Donovan Flannery.
My sister-in-law Christina was truly a blessing to anyone who met her. I spoke to her at 10pm on 9/10/01 when she called to speak to my daughter Ashley. It was the last time I spoke to her. Miss her very much.
I went to High School With Christina and was saddened when I learned of her death on 9/11. Christina was a great human being with a big heart. We weren’t best friends, but her kindness through our years in High School has always stayed with me. I make sure every year that I watch the memorial services and the reading of her name. Hearing her name reminds me that we have not forgotten her or any one of the vicitims of that Tuesday morning. May God Bless Christina, her family and loved ones, always. She will not be forgotten.
[…] Here is our remembrance of Christina Donovan Flannery from last year. Tags: 9/11 Trackback URI for this entry: http://pointfiveblog.com/index.php/2007/09/1351/trackback/ function openSpellChecker() { // get the textarea we’re going to check var txt = document.getElementById(’comment’); // give the spellChecker object a reference to our textarea // pass any number of text objects as arguments to the constructor: var speller = new spellChecker( txt,”http://pointfiveblog.com/wp” ); // kick it off speller.openChecker(); } […]
[…] Point Five - Christina Donovan Flannery […]
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Florida Beach Weddings are romantic, i love the wedding photo.
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I wish everyone would read this. After years of the media and government using 9-11 for their own purposes, I think the public get’s cold to 9-11 and the reality that real people lost their lives which is bad. But that there remains real suffering, real memories, and the lingering of the Human Spirit that wants to share in the triumps and griefs of the victims(alive and dead) of 9-11.
My God bless your souls.
Beach wedding in Florida is a destination of choice for many brides and grooms. For great beach weddings photo’s you must have a beach wedding in Florida.
Such a beautiful remembrance, such a horrible event. my heart goes out to all the victims of this horrible time.
What a bad thing to happen to us and to the people in that building. I would hope that we would learn from our mistakes and who we can trust, but it seams we won’t.
Weddings are so special, love the Photography of your Wedding
What a wonderful tribute to someone who truly left her mark in this world. She will live forever in your heart and mind.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful story. It helps us to never forget the many blessings we have in our lives.
love this blog