Senior In Newark Writes Award-Winning Essay About World Trade Center

NEWARK, NJ — Every year, Essex County puts out a call to its local seniors, asking them to write essays about the people and events that have shaped their lives. And every year, people like Newark resident Edna Lewis step up to the challenge.

Lewis was among the four winners of the 2023 Essex County Senior Citizen Legacies Writing Contest. The authors earned a big congratulations for their essays during an awards luncheon on Monday at the Robert O’Toole Community Center in Cedar Grove Park.

Lewis wrote “Enjoy Your Lunch,” which was selected as one of the winning stories. County officials shared the following statement about the essay:

“Thirty years ago, Ms. Lewis was working on the 34th floor of the World Trade Center when a bomb was detonated in the basement of the North Tower. It was a normal day at work, the temperature outside was cold but it was sunny. Shortly after noon when she broke for lunch, the lights flickered and smoke began to fill the room. People began to walk down the steps. The stairwells were crowded, dark and filled with smoke and people were crammed together like sardines. Suddenly there was sunlight and teams of firefighters were helping the people exiting the building. Strangers helped Ms. Lewis get home to Newark. ‘I never knew that in 20 minutes, from that phone call, I would be facing the challenge to live. Needless to say, I didn’t get to enjoy my lunch,’ she writes.”

Other winners included Caldwell resident Eva M. Ogens, who wrote “Paying It Forward,” Nutley resident Linda Ann Buset, who wrote “Dying from AIDS in the 1980s: A Family Perspective,” and West Orange resident Mary Lauri Bartola, who wrote “How Life Threw Me a Curve, And I Fought Back.”

Honorable mentions went to Verona resident Coni Evans, who wrote “Getting Old Ain’t for Sissies,” Maplewood resident Pamela L. Gaston, who wrote “The Meanest Mother in the World,” Bloomfield resident Paula Zaccone, who wrote “Four Family Stars,” and Montclair resident John Falzer, who wrote “Morphine & The Fireman’s Wife.”

Essex County Commissioner Patricia Sebold – who was an English teacher for three decades before she retired – said she was “thrilled” to see so many people participate in this year’s contest. It was a sentiment also shared by Essex County Commissioner Joseph DiVincenzo Jr.

“Our Senior Citizen Legacies Writing Contest is a unique way for our older population to share their life’s stories and describe the people and events that helped to shape their lives,” DiVincenzo said.

“Our seniors’ stories make you laugh and they touch your heart,” he continued. “They provide us with a different perspective on historical events and what our society was like.”

Sponsored by the Essex County Division of Senior Services, the Legacies Writing Contest was started in 1996 and was part of a national contest which encouraged senior citizens to discover the joys of writing while sharing their stories with others. Although the national contest was discontinued in 1998, the Essex County Division of Senior Services continued to sponsor the Legacies Writing Contest on a local level. Entries are judged on the writer’s ability to engage the reader with humor, emotional impact or rich descriptions. Winning stories were selected by a committee of volunteer judges and staff from the Essex County Division of Senior Services.

For more information about the annual contest or other services offered by the Essex County Division of Senior Services, call 973-395-8375.

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