The airport was buzzing with activity. It was early January, an extremely cold afternoon in Washington. At one corner of the entrance to the boarding area, stood Mr. James Terry Steiner, 52, 6’ 2” tall with ever shining but serious sky blue eyes and his family. Mr. Steiner was a well-known neurosurgeon. He was one of the top surgeons in St. Michael’s Hospital, in Washington D.C. All the junior surgeons looked up to him, identifying him as a role model of a perfect doctor and individual.
His wife, Catherine, blonde, 5’ 4”, was a slim woman with avid green eyes and a talented artist cum interior decorator who loved organizing fund-raising events. They had two beautiful girls, Jessica, their eldest, was an exact replica of her mother is 24, and studying to specialize in General and Paediatric Surgery. Their youngest daughter Elizabeth looks and takes more after her father is 13, a freshman in St. Michael’s High School.
Dr. Steiner and his wife were going on a holiday to Hawaii.
“Jess, Liz, take care of yourselves and the house, okay?” Cathy their mother says as she hugs them both. Dr Steiner hugs both of his daughters and says, “ I love you both, be good!”
“Bye Mom, Dad, have a good time, we love you,” both the girls cried out waving simultaneously.
The next morning as they were having their breakfast, Jessica turns on the news. They get a shock of their lives as they hear the newscaster says, “ Last night, Flight No. 67 to Hawaii was bombed by terrorist. No one aboard that fateful plane survived. Among the passengers were Dr James Terry Steiner Head of the Neuro and Microsurgery Department at the St. Michael’s Hospital.
Liz too shocked to react was sitting dumb-founded while Jessica was just hugging her while crying. Liz finally bursts out sobbing. After awhile, they both calm down, Jessica gets up just as their phone rang. She starts sobbing as she spoke to their maternal grandmother who lived in Florida. Just as she hung up, the phone rings again, this time it was their mother’s sister who lived in New York. They discussed funeral arrangement and her aunt says she will be on the first plane out.
After that there were endless calls from friends and colleagues from the hospital. They all were devastated, and rallied around to provide support. The funeral and memorial service was a moving and poignant affair. Dr Steiner and his wife were pillars of support to many charity, and social organizations. Their untimely, horrible death was a major blow, eye-opener to many, about their work and the existence of extremist and terrorists in this part of the world.
