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For Some Texans the Tragedy of 9/11 Is Never Far Behind

(Damali Keith, KRIV 26 News)
The 9/11 attacks touched the hearts and lives of Americans in a way no other tragedy has.
At least a couple of Houston men were not only touched, but rocked by that awful day when all those innocent people lost their lives.  Most Americans remember the 9/11 tragedy on a day like this, the anniversary, but many relive the heartbreak and pain everyday.

“I don’t think for a parent it ever gets easier if you’ve lost a child,” Larry Catuzzi said.
Larry’s daughter, Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas, was pregnant with her first child when she died on United Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001.  Terrorists hijacked and crashed that plane in a Pennsylvania field.

A section in Downtown Houston’s Market Square Park is named after Lauren: “Lauren’s Garden”.

“I’m here just to kind of be with Lauren’s memory,” Larry said.  “It is a peaceful spot.  I come by here a lot.  Hopefully this will be a reminder for people here in Houston, people who walk through the park, what happened on 9/11.” He said his heartbreak is just as painful as it was on that tragic day.

[And] Chaplain Skip Straus, founder of Houston’s Emergency Ministries, agreed.

“Walking into it (Ground Zero) was like walking into Hell,” Straus said. He was called to New York to help counsel the first responders and pay respects when remains were discovered there.

“I think it was important to remind people God was still present in the midst of a horrible tragedy like that,”he said. Eleven years later, he said he is still haunted by what he saw.
(See the full story at KRIV 26 News)

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