Never Forgotten: Lauren Grandcolas

Six days from today marks twenty-five years since September 11, 2001. A quarter century has passed since that terrible Tuesday morning. It is the duty of the living to remember those killed that day. It is the duty of the living to make sure that the stories of their lives continue to echo through the years. It is the duty of the living to ensure that those who were murdered that day are never forgotten. 

Lauren Grandcolas, eleven days after turning thirty-eight, woke up on the East Coast on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, with just one goal in mind:  Getting home.  She lived in San Rafael, California with her husband, Jack.  Born in Bloomington, Indiana, this Hoosier was a Longhorn.  She earned her degree from the University of Texas-Austin. It was there where she and Jack first met. She was three months pregnant with the couple's first child. She had recently left her position at Good Housekeeping magazine so she could focus her energy on writing a book intended to inspire women to follow their dreams.  

She had been in New Jersey for her grandmother's funeral.  On what proved to be the final morning of her life, she arrived at Newark Airport earlier than expected. So early in fact that instead of waiting around for the flight she had been scheduled to take, she took a seat on United's 8:00 am flight from Newark to San Francisco. She called Jack, who was still asleep in California (where it was not yet 5:00 am), and left a message for him on their answering machine, letting him know she would be home earlier than expected. On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, the 8:00 am United Airlines flight from Newark to San Francisco was United Flight 93.  

At 9:39:21 am, after Flight 93 had been hijacked, Lauren Grandcolas demonstrated the grace under pressure that those who she loved and who loved her most of all said had been a hallmark of her life.  She called Jack, leaving another message on their answering machine, "Jack, pick up sweetie, can you hear me? Okay. I just want to tell you, there's a little problem with the plane. I'm fine. I'm totally fine. I just want to tell you how much I love you."

Although Lauren Grandcolas died before she could complete her book, her sisters did. They published You Can Do It: The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-Up Girls. 

Forever thirty-eight. Forever loved. Forever remembered.

-AK