Peter Pan and Wendy

 

Christine Egan was born in Hull, England, where she was raised and where she lived until, upon graduation from the Hull School of Nursing, she moved to Canada.  She lived among and provided medical assistance and education to the Inuit people living in remote northern Canada.  

She embraced them, their culture, and their language and they returned that embrace.  She was more than respected.  She was a beloved member of their community.  To better herself and to better serve them, she earned her PhD in Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba (Go Bisons!) in 1999. 

Christine Egan, 55, never married.  She traveled extensively.   In early September 2001, her travels brought her to the New York City metropolitan area...

...where her younger brother, Michael Egan, 51, lived and worked.  Michael, his wife Anna Maria, and two sons Jonathan and Matthew, had moved to Middletown Township, New Jersey from Connecticut earlier that year.  Michael Egan, a Vice-President at Aon Corporation, worked in lower Manhattan - on the 105th floor of the World Trade Center's South Tower.  

Michael and Anna Maria Egan were preparing for a 20th anniversary celebratory trip to Bermuda.  Aunt Christine had come to stay with Jonathan and Matthew while their parents were away.  Christine arrived a few days prior to the Egans' departure.  So, on Tuesday September 11, 2001, Christine Egan accompanied her brother to his office "for a cup of coffee and a peek out the windows."  

Michael Egan was on the telephone, speaking to Anna Maria as he did every morning, when the South Tower collapsed.  When he called, Anna Maria was hopeful that it was to report that he and Christine had gotten out of the building and were somewhere safe.  "No, we're stuck", was his reply.  Knowing perhaps not what else to say and knowing, for certain, nothing else needed to be said, Anna Maria said, "I love you, darling."  Neither hung up.  Anna Maria Egan was still talking to Michael as she watched the collapse of the South Tower live on television.  

Christine Egan and her brother, Michael Egan

-AK