Man who died in 9/11 terror attacks had returned to work on that day after taking care of wife for a month following a miscarriage
Almost an entire generation has grown up since the horrific 9/11 attacks which took place in September 2001. As we almost touch two decades, more and more untold stories of victims and survivors come to light.
Ana Soria had known her Luis Alfonso Chimbo, later her husband, since he was a child and the two had grown up together in the mountains of Ecuador in Cuenca. Both of their families would make pork fried rice and sell it together on the streets. They got married in 1988.
In 1996, Chimbo landed his dream job in the receiving department that processes all of the food, liquor, and supplies for the Windows on the World restaurant.
The restaurant was at the top of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. By 2001, after working hard, Chimbo was promoted to management. Unfortunately, that August, Soria went through a miscarriage of her second child and Chimbo stayed home to look after her. He returned to work on September 11, 2001.
As he drove away from home, Soria stood at the window and said, "Goodbye, my love" not knowing that she would never see him again. Chimbo was one out of 73 Windows employees who lost their lives, as did six men working on a renovation job, and 91 guests who were at the restaurant. There was no coming back from the horror and pain of 9/11.
In June 2018, Soria went to the north reflecting pool on her husband's birthday. She carried a birthday card and a flower which she placed above his name.
Her card read, "To the love of my life, happy birthday to you. Surprise, you didn’t know I was coming." She stood and watched how people opened the card and read it. Some were moved to tears while others had their hand on the heart. She stood and thought to herself, "You see, Al, all these people came to your birthday."
As she waited patiently to sing her husband a 'Happy Birthday', four American women who were college-age read the card and started to sing. She walked up to them to thank them when they asked her how she was related to the memorial. When she told them, the young women cried and asked her if they could sing with her. "I felt peace in my heart," Soria said.
However, Soria remains internally conflicted about the compensation money she received which she calls 'blood money.' Empathy for the victims came in the form of material compensation and was formally called the Victims Compensation Fund which was distributed in 2004.
According to special master Kenneth Feinberg, more than $7 billion was appropriate for the 5560 people who applied as injured or dependents of those who had died. She is constantly torn by how her husband's dream for a better future and life for his family came at the cost of his own life.
No amount of time will ever be able to fill the void felt by the victims in the terrorist attack that shocked and silenced the world.