Spirit of aloha vital Lei. American flags. The love and support of friends -- and strangers.
for isle families who
lost loved ones to terror
Gestures big and small, from leis to
phone calls, pour in from all directionsBy Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.comThese are some of the things that have helped the families of terrorist victims with Hawaii ties make it through the days since Sept. 11.
Since Sept. 14, Rob and Carol Hale, the parents of Maile Hale, have been in Boston, where Maile lived with her sister Marilyce, and New York, where she died in the attack on the World Trade Center.
"We went back to New York City Tuesday and Wednesday," Rob Hale said by telephone yesterday from Boston. "Maile's high school (Kaiser) had made many lei for her that we brought with us and we were able to get down to Battery Island Park, six or eight blocks from the World Trade Center. From there you look directly out on the Statue of Liberty and we were able to leave our lei there and at the fire station."
Hale searched for a word to describe what leaving the lei there felt like. "Therapeutic," he finally said. "It was therapeutic."
Being so near to the collapse of the Twin Towers, "you realize the magnitude of it," Hale said. "There was dust all over everything. The heat and destruction is severe."
One consolation has been Maile's "wonderful" East Coast friends, Hale said. "They have reached out and been so supportive and helpful."
Maile, 26, was Kaiser High's 1993 valedictorian and had lived in Boston since the fall of 1997 after she graduated from Weslyan University. The Boston finance executive was attending a conference at the World Trade Center when it was attacked.
Laurie Miller Laychak, whose husband, David, 40, died in the attack on the Pentagon, also praised friends -- including her high school friends from Hawaii Baptist Academy, where she graduated in 1980. David Laychak worked as a civilian budget analyst at the Pentagon. Laurie Laychak learned there was no chance of his survival on Sept. 13.
Laychak heard yesterday that classmates were planning to collect funds for her and her children, Zachary, 9, and Jennifer, 7.
"I have a unique class at Hawaii Baptist Academy, it truly is like a family," Laychak said from her home in Manassas, Va. She thanked those who called, though she has not talked to most of them.
"My mom's been taking all my calls. It's really too hard to find the words," Laychak said. "I appreciate their patience and understanding while I try to find the ground. Right now I am feeling so hollow. I'm still in such shock."
Neighbors in Manassas, where the Laychaks have lived less than a year, have shown "an outpouring of support and offers to help in any way that were incredible. The outpouring of support we've had, it restores your faith in human kindness."
But it has not been just the kindness of friends and family that has been a help in this time of sorrow, families say. Strangers have done their part as well.
Aikahi resident Ian Pescaia, the husband of Christine Snyder, said he is "hanging in there" after the loss of "a very special person" who enjoyed the simple things in life, like "going to the sandbar in Kaneohe or to the beach in Lanikai." He and Snyder were married in June after dating for eight years.
Snyder, 32, an arborist for The Outdoor Circle, was returning from the American Forestry Conference in Washington and a visit to New York on United Airlines Flight 93 out of Newark, N.J. when the plane crashed southeast of Pittsburgh, killing all aboard.
Pescaia has received a number of condolence cards from strangers, unsigned and with no return address. Somehow, he said, it helps.
Pescaia said he and Snyder's family, some of whom live in Hawaii, have not decided yet when to hold services for her.
Hale said that when he and his wife arrived on one of the first planes to land in Boston after flight restrictions were lifted, "there were probably 100 people on the tarmac waving flags to bring the plane in and 150 people inside the terminal applauding. Every overpass and so many of the houses here are flying American flags -- the spirit and support is incredible. It helps you to understand that there's a united country behind you."
Laychak, too, takes consolation in the display of American flags: "It's been therapeutic for me to drive around and see the flags."
In addition to funds established to help the rescuers and victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, several ways to specifically remember or assist those with Hawaii ties have been set up: Specific ways to help isle victims created
>> The family of Maile Hale has asked that, in lieu of memorial flowers, friends make a donation to the Labaree Scholarship Endowment, c/o Williams Mystic, P.O. Box 6000, Mystic, Conn. 06355, which supports a college "Semester at Sea" that Maile enjoyed, or to the Rotary Club of Honolulu, or to any charity of their choice. The family plans a celebration of her life in Mystic, Conn., Sept. 29 and a Honolulu service in the future.
>> The Outdoor Circle has established the Christine Snyder Tree Education Fund, to educate people on the importance of trees and their proper planting and care. Snyder, who was an arborist with the organization, was on United Flight 93 returning from a mainland conference when it crashed in western Pennsylvania. To contribute, call The Outdoor Circle at 593-0300.
>> Jackie Gouvea Suzuki is writing fellow 1980 graduates of the Hawaii Baptist Academy, asking for donations and messages of support for classmate Laurie Miller Laychak, whose husband, David, was killed in the attack on the Pentagon. She can be reached at 674-2809.
>> Glen Tomlinson, owner of the Home of the Brave military tour company, his family and employees raised $5,797 from Oahu residents by asking for donations for miniature American flags. Yesterday he ended collections and directed his banker to cut checks, splitting the money evenly among the families of the seven known victims with Hawaii ties.
