You can shed tears that she is goneOr you can smile because she has lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that she will come back
Or you can open your eyes and see all that she has left.
Your heart can be empty because you can't see her
Or you can be full of the love that you shared.
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember her and only that she is gone
Or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back,
Or you can do what she would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.
from Butterfly memorials
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Much has already been written about Alicia. Many people loved her. Sept 10 2009 I quote her dad from Sweet Alicia Titus:
It has been eight years since that tragic day. Many have moved on. Some say, let's celebrate the life that was Alicia. I agree whole-heartedly, but let us honor also the feelings that are all too real for those of us who were directly affected. For in this honoring comes healing, new hope, greater joy, deeper compassion, and better understanding. It's easier to pretend that all is well but all is not well! I will go out on September 11th, kayak on Half Moon Lake, mountain bike on the Potawatomi Trail with my son, Eli, play with my grandson, Logan, sing joyous happy birthday to my son, Zac, laugh with my daughter, Shanoa as we make Mimosas...and, at the same time cry a lake of tears with my wife, Bev. These are healing, honoring tears; they come from the heart and beyond, and they honor the love that I feel for Alicia, the joy she brought to all who knew her, and the peace I feel in my soul. If we allow ourselves to feel the height of our love and joy, we must also allow ourselves to feel the depth of our pain and sadness. I've often said that grief has become my best friend and worst enemy at the same time. On this day, I will welcome the tears of grief and the joy of laughter for they are from the same well-spring.
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Who was Alicia?
She was 28 and a stewardess on flight 175... she is an inspiration to me now that I 'know' her. I cried when I read her story. Many people loved her. Alicia was easy to love. She had “it”. She was loveable. More people on this planet should be like her... and the world is not quite as nice without her.
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From a Chicago Tribune 2002:
For Alicia Titus, her new job as a United Airlines flight attendant was a steppingstone to a bigger dream: going back to college to get her teaching credentials.A native of Ohio, 27-year-old Titus was known by friends as a gregarious and adventurous. She earned a degree in international marketing at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where a professor remembered her for her easy smile and hard work. She worked for several marketing firms in the San Francisco area before taking the job with United in January. Although her United crew was based in Boston, Titus had an apartment in San Francisco and considered the city her home. Friends told the San Francisco Chronicle that Titus had a passion for dancing, beaches and snowboarding. A victim on Flight 175, she is survived by her parents, John and Bev Titus of St. Paris, Ohio.
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From a 2007 entry on the Alicia Titus Memorial Peace foundation ... again from her dad John Titus:
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Amazingly, we watched Alicia unfold like a beautiful blossoming tree as her roots took hold and her flowering blossoms unfolded in beauty and majesty. Her gentle sweet nature graced all who knew her, while her zest for life and exuberant joyousness were exhilarating and contagious. For Alicia, life was to be experienced in its fullness! She approached each day with a sense of purpose, spreading her message of peace and love, and open to the joy that this new day would bring. One of my favorite passages from the Psalms 118 “…this is the day the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it” was manifested through Alicia in her approach to life. I remember reciting this to myself on that beautiful Tuesday morning in September of 2001, as I drove eastward, down our tree-lined road to work. How quickly our perceptions can change! How profoundly our world can be transformed! How painfully evil can rear its ugly head and wreak havoc in our world!
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She left the world too early.
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You are not forgotten Alicia.
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We remember you.
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Hubble photo of a butterfly nebula - perhaps where angels live...
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