Beyond The

It was to quote the words of others, merely “A Brief Encounter,” or to be more poetic, we were “Ships that Pass in the Night.”

Con and I shared only one dance (to the tune of “Beyond the Sea” sung by Bobby Darin) that summer evening ever so long ago.

Our paths had crossed earlier at an event sponsored by the Youth Ministry of St. Vincent Ferrer Church on the east side of NYC.

When the dance and the evening ended, Con gallantly walked me across the Park to the west side of our town and shared his dreams for the future.

His Father, two uncles and several cousins were NYC firemen, and the young man holding my hand as we walked west was hoping to follow in their footsteps.

While I don’t believe Con or I exchanged last names that evening, ever so long ago, I remember believing without a doubt that his dream would come true.

His enthusiasm was obvious and while I enjoyed hearing about his hopes and ambitions, I was too young to indicate more than a vague interest.

I saw him often after that when he had found the girl of his dreams. I watched from the sidelines with approval the night she showed friends her diamond solitaire.

They were a beautiful young couple, and I hoped all their dreams came true while I continued to pursue my own.

That was before I met my own destiny and left NY barely remembering the brief encounter on the night I listened to Bobby Darin sing “Beyond the Sea.”

Until the morning of September 11, 2001 when I sat in a living room far from St. Vincent Ferrer Church or Central Park and heard about the attack on the World Trade Center,

I wondered how many dreams had ended on the morning of 9/11.

I wondered if Con and the girl who shared his destiny, had sons and if they were there that terrible morning.

Now every year on the eleventh day of September, I say a prayer not only for a young man who once walked me home, but the countless others who went “Beyond the Sea,” to save others.