Christine Anne Olender – A Project 2996 Tribute
When Christine Anne Olender died at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, she was living the life I had once envisioned for myself. As an Assistant Manager at Windows on the World, she had found a place where she could marry her flair for fashion with her “sunny disposition”. Christine hailed from Chicago but chose New York City as her home. Based on comments and memorials, she loved the city and all that it offered but relished the opportunity to surprise her family with impromptu visits. Born on the Fourth of July, her mother called her “my firecracker”. I can only imagine how mortifying yet comforting it must have been for Christine to her that phrase.
A friend said of her that she was ‘very practical, except when it came to shoes’. As a fashion challenged person, I greatly admire that statement. A passion for shoes and practicality are rarely found in the same person. Christine was a key figure of the management staff at Windows and was rewarded for her hard work and dedication with much responsibility. A co-worker recalled how she would wear a fireman’s helmet during fire drills. As a former restaurant manager myself, I laughed out loud at this remembering how challenging it always was to inspire an early morning staff. Christine did this for five years at one of the premiere dining destinations in NYC. She must have been remarkable.
Christine left behind her parents, a sister and a brother (sadly, Conrad S. Olender died September 4th, 2008) and many other family members both in Illinois and in far away Poland. An anonymous message from a Pole on a 9/11 tribute site mentions that they might possibly be related and how sad that they would never have the chance to meet. When I read this, I searched on ‘Olender’ and was amazed at the pages and pages of results, at the number of people that share that name. I was humbled to realize what a tragedy the senseless loss of just one of them was.
Christine was 39 years old when she died on September 11th – the age I will be next month. We share a name – well, a form of it. She was living a glamorous, independent, exciting life, a life that I happily traded in for a husband and child in the suburbs. I wonder if she ever thought about living the life I have in the same way I’ve often wondered how it would have been if I had pursued my career. I wonder how many of the lives lost on September 11th are parallels of the lives we have gone on to live, how many of us might recognize a part of ourselves in one of victims of that horrific day. I simply volunteered anonymously to write a tribute about a stranger, someone I had no connection to whatsoever and what I found was kindred soul. God bless you, Christine Anne Olender. God bless your parents and your family.
Read another tribute to Christine at Legacy.com
To find more Project 2996 tributes, visit here
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That was a lovely tribute, I appreciate your writing skill. Thanks too for posting the site; I went over and read a few of the tributes. They brought tears to my eyes.
God bless you too, GOPmom.
Thank you.
Cheers, Mom, for a nice tribute. I wonder how many more years it will be before I wake up without a pained wince on September 11.
It was weird reading this article about how kids are getting taught about 9/11 in schools because many of them were too young to remember much:
9/11 as a Lesson, Not a Memory
I suppose your daughter is one of these too who doesn’t have vivid first-hand memories of the day. So odd to think about.
I’m glad it is being taught in schools. The attack on Pearl Harbor is taught. It is history, as is the nation’s response to the attacks.
My daughter does remember 9/11. It was her first day of nursery school so she has a picture of herself with which to remember the day. She remembers, as she tells it, coming into the kitchen and finding me watching TV and crying. She remembers seeing the “dirt explosion” and hearing the sirens. She remembers her dad coming home from work to take her to school and she remembers seeing the jet flying over our house. And she remembers having a special dinner with family.
Granted, her memory is remarkable. She also remembers getting bit by a swan in Henley-on-Thames when she was 22 months old. As a parent, it’s a blessing and a curse.