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From Me To You
Do not undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special.
Do not set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you.
Do not take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as you would your life, for without them, life is meaningless.
Do not let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past nor for the future. By living your life one day at a time you live all the days of your life.
Do not give up when you have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.
It is a fragile thread that binds us to each other.
Do not be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.
Do not shut love out of your life by saying it is impossible to find. The quickest way to receive love is to give love. The fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly.
Do not dismiss your dreams. To be without dreams is to be without hope. To be without hope is to be without purpose.
Do not run through life so fast that you forget not only where you have been but also where you are going.
Life is not a race but a journey to be savored each step of the way.
This is the e-mail message Jean DePalma sent to 13 of her friends, at 8:39 am, minutes before she lost her life in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
Who was Jean DePalma? Who was this woman who wrote such a beautiful and inspiring message to people she cared about? From NJ.com:
She was the classic oldest child, her siblings said, a highly organized and capable woman who succeeded in business and could juggle the demands of career and motherhood. Her brothers and sisters often turned to her for leadership and advice. “She was the perfect big sister who wanted to take care of everybody and protect everybody,” recalled her sister, Francine Michalski of Wayne.
Jean was recently divorced, the devoted mother of two children she adored, and a parishioner of St. Joseph’s R.C. Church in West Milford.
Unfortunately, Ms. DePalma is no longer with us because she died on September 11, 2001 at One World Trade Center, where she worked on the 100th floor as a certified public accountant for Marsh & McLennan.
She may not be with us but the words she wrote in the last minutes of her life speak eloquently with a wisdom and with a spirit of truth that can never die.
Each of us remembers that dreadful day, where we were and what we were doing. Let us take a brief moment this 9/11/2022 to remember those who simply went into work as usual and never returned home. Let us remember those wives, husbands, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters and friends that left many loved ones and memories behind.
Let us try to savor the many moments we continue to have with our loved ones, moments to live without fear but with hope, moments to give love and to receive love, and take moments to savor every step of our journey of life with each new chapter in our book.
...It was a beautiful morning as Linda Kostenko made her way to work. Listening to the car radio, a special report broke the news of a plane hitting the World Trade Center (WTC). Her friend, Jean DePalma, immediately came to mind. DePalma, 41, worked for Marsh & McLennan on the 100th floor of the North Tower. Kostenko hurried to work at the Paterson Diocese offices and to her computer. With a sigh of relief she opened a message from DePalma, a poem, sent at 8:39 a.m.
Kostenko replied to the message but received no response. Hearing further news reports she was sure she had lost a dear friend. “We knew, we knew,” she said, with sadness still echoing in her voice. American Airlines Flight 11 hit floors 93-99 of the North Tower at 8:46 a.m., just moments after DePalma sent her last poignant message.
Kostenko and DePalma had spent time at the WTC a month before, enjoying a summer concert. Kostenko remembers looking high up the tower to where her friend worked and she also noticed the volume of people exiting the building. On September 11, those visuals came back to her with wrenching clarity.
Kostenko and DePalma’s friendship began when Kostenko was the principal at St. Joseph School in West Milford. DePalma’s children, Jamie and Drew, were students; their mom, an active volunteer. “What a dynamic person; she was brilliant and she had such a good heart,” Kostenko said.
As the scope of the tragedy became a reality, Kostenko and her co-workers moved away from the televisions and went to the chapel. “The bishop said we could go home but we stayed awhile in the chapel, praying and crying,” she said.
Ms. DePalma grew up in Wood-Ridge, the oldest of five children, the one who would organize plays and projects. In 1980, she graduated from Montclair State University with honors and a degree in accounting. For many years before joining Marsh USA, she worked at Campos & Stratis, where she became a partner.
"She had very good business sense, and if there was a predicament, she always knew what to do and how to take control of the situation," recalled her sister, Michele Caviasco of Manhattan. "I admired how she built her way up to a successful career. But she never forgot a birthday, or a card."
"I had a difficult time in my life, and she made it easier for me by taking charge, and by being kind and giving. Our father always called her 'Mrs. Wonderful,'" recalled Michalski.
Source: https://voicescenter.org/living-memorial/victim/jean-c-depalma
Blessings,
Carol
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