This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
I just got a Christmas card in the mail, one of those final precious few before the mailbox goes dry. It was from a friend whose wife was on a fateful plane that crashed into the World Trade Center in 2001. It had been his wife's first trip after maternity leave; their baby girl was just 5 months old.
On behalf of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympic, I had the honor of choosing her husband to run in the Olympic torch relay. Less than a half-year after her death, on a cold Boston morning, hundreds of friends and strangers gathered and ran with this courageous widower, his brother carrying the baby right alongside him.
Pictured in his Christmas card this year are that beautiful baby girl, now a striking adolescent with long brown hair and a wide, toothy grin, embracing her new baby brother, who has a full head of dark hair, bright eyes and a smile full of wonder.
It made me pause and remember that evil never wins. Love is eternal. The human spirit is full of light and resilience.
Heather Simonsen
Salt Lake City