Wings of a Bird

Recalling horrors in the deadly details - Philadelphia Inquirer
Two went to give aid; one got a son’s final phone call.
... Elsie Goss-Caldwell, a West Philadelphia tax preparer, whose son, Kenneth Caldwell, was killed in the collapse of the North Tower.
". . . I was just sitting there on the edge of the bed, getting ready to come into the office.
"Then the phone rang, and it was Kenny. He said, 'Mom, I just want to let you know, I love you.' I was thinking, he's so silly, because the night before we were on the phone just laughing and talking. He had had a busy week the week before because he had to take clients out to dinner and the theater, and I was teasing him, saying I wish I could be that busy.
"All of a sudden, he said, 'I have to get out of here because there's a bomb.' And he was gone. I never spoke to him again . . . never, never, ever.
"That was it. I don't know if he hung up or got disconnected. All I know is, he was gone.
...
"At nighttime, I'd call his cell phone, and I would tell him I was coming to get him, and I'd tell him I loved him and not to be scared and that Mommy was coming.
". . . It would ring and go to voice mail, and his voice would come on, and I'd leave a message." ...

Labels: grief