Antonia Landgraf and Matthew Gambale

Antonia Landgraf and Matthew Gambale

Interview transcript

AL: When 9/11 happened, I was still living home. You were in college. And Gennie had just moved out, but she was in Brooklyn Heights. She worked for Cantor Fitzgerald on the top of the North Tower. I also worked in the World Trade Center. I was there on the 5th floor of 4 World Trade Center. So I actually escaped that day and got home to Brooklyn, where my parents were both home waiting for me and Gennie to come home. And unfortunately, I did, and we just continued waiting for Gennie. I think like a lot of families we had the missing posters up.

MG: I remember a few days afterwards we went out ñ we pretty much canvassed the city hanging up those posters everywhere.

AL: Those posters actually ended up being a solace to our family, because people would just call our house. Not with information, but with prayers and thoughts and love.

MG: Strangers just everywhere. They just came out.

AL: There was actually candle light vigils every night in front of our stoop. The police would come and block off the street, and everyone would just come and pray. And I think that moved me the most. I remember coming out of the house the first night and seeing the people there, and I remember just being so grateful. And to feel grateful in a situation where you probably should be angry and screaming – and you forget now, cause I guess it’s so many years later and everyone kind of gets back to normalcy – but to remember how close everybody was. And not just our family, but New York and the whole nation. You know, bringing everyone together.