It’s been said that 9/11 changed everything. And for those who lost loved ones on 9/11, the memories will never completely fade away. Lives and families were shattered in countless ways. Nearly 3,000 children lost parents. Susan Esposito is one of them. On September 11, 2001, Esposito’s father went to work and never came back. “I was Daddy’s little girl,” Esposito says. “I had to get married without him. Raise three children without him. There’s so much he doesn’t know about our lives today.” Post 9/11, Esposito’s faith in the U.S. government was shaken, as was her sense of security. But she managed to find new meaning by helping others who have experienced the loss of a parent. Founding “A Caring Hand,” an organization that provides bereavement services “gave me a place to put my anger and my energy,” she says. “It was better than me hitting someone with a car.”
Lee Ielpi is a retired New York City firefighter. His son Jonathan was one of the 343 firefighters that died at ground zero. Ielpi spent 9 months in the recovery effort at the World Trade Center site. He helped recover remains, including those of his own son. “I then made a commitment,” Ielpi wrote in a blog post, “to help other dads look for their sons. Many, to this day have not been able to find their children.” Despite all the loss, the nation came together after the attacks. And Ielpi co-founded the Tribute WTC Visitor Center to help people remember the love that came out of this tragedy, rather than the hatred and distrust. “We must work together,” he says, “so that these memories do not fade.”
Similarly, Edie Lutnick found that after losing her brother on 9/11, caring for others helped her heal. Edie’s brother Gary was a partner at Cantor Fitzgerald, the Wall Street Firm hardest hit by the terrorist strike. 658 of Lutnick’s colleagues died that day. “There is no closure,” she says. “Ten years is a milestone but it’s not an ending.” Esposito, Ielpi and Lutnick join Larry in-studio in New York to talk about the long shadow of 9/11 and the slow journey to find new meaning.
Guests:
Lee Ielpi, retired New York City firefighter who lost his son Jonathan on 9/11; President of the September 11th Families' Association and Co-Founder of the Tribute WTC Visitor Center at ground zero
Edie Lutnick, Co-Founder and Executive Director of The Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund; author of An Unbroken Bond: The Untold Story of How The Cantor Fitzgerald Families Faced the Tragedy of 9/11 and Beyond; her brother Gary Lutnick, who was a partner at Cantor Fitzgerald, died on 9/11 along with 657 others
Susan Esposito, Founder of A Caring Hand: The Billy Esposito Foundation, which provides bereavement services and educational opportunities to children that have experienced the loss of a parent; Susan’s father Billy Esposito died on 9/11, he was Vice President and Partner at Cantor Fitzgerald
From left to right, Lee Ielpi, Edie Lutnick and Susan Esposito in studio.