Another fine profile from associate editor Kerry Weber:
During September 2001, Michael Armstrong was busy. Then 34 years old, he was preparing to get married in October. He planned to be out of the office at the end of the week of September 11 for his bachelor party. On Monday the 10th, he attended a funeral Mass for a friend’s mother. But on Tuesday he was at work at Cantor Fitzgerald on the 104th floor of One World Trade Center.
Sometimes his sister Laura, nine years his junior, thinks about Michael’s schedule that week. What if the funeral had been held on Tuesday? What if the terrorist attacks had taken place at the end of the week? Any number of events could have spared Michael’s life, and spared his family the pain of losing him. “There are always those what-if moments and the whys,” she says now. “Whys were directed toward God. A certain degree of anger is only natural, but I think what I felt was more hurt and sorrow than anger, and I don’t feel like my faith was altered.”
You can browse our other features for 9/11 here.
Tim Reidy
God bless the Armstrong family. God rest the soul of Michael Armstrong.