Aloha spirit helps New Yorkers heal
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| Winnie DeSoto, left, a member of the Na Puanani O Ke Kuhina Hawai'i halau, offered a bear hug's worth of aloha yesterday to Dee Ragusa. Ragusa's son Michael, a New York firefighter, was among the victims of the Sept. 11 tragedy.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser |
By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer
Theresa Russo, widow of New York firefighter Michael Russo, cradled their 17-month-old son, Michael Jr., in her arms yesterday and said she would bring the boy back to Hawai'i when he's old enough to enjoy the surf his father would have loved.
Russo was among more than 100 New York guests of the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort who began their return trip home yesterday as hotel workers danced the hula and sang "Aloha 'Oe."
Six hundred New Yorkers were flown to Hawai'i free of charge by Hawaiian Airlines and put up in 13 Waikiki hotels to honor and support the heroes and survivors of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Another 600 will be Hawai'i's guests next year, Gov. Ben Cayetano said.
Russo said the beauty of Hawai'i was bittersweet.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
"I had so many memories of him, and I knew he would have loved to be here," she said. "But there were many signs that he really was here with us in spirit."
As Waikiki Marriott resort activities director Jean Asato said goodbye, Frances Garvey began to cry. Without her son Matthew, she said, going home would be hard. For her, there's nothing there.
New York Fire Battalion Chief Joe Pfeifer thanked the hotel staffers giving the send-off.
"All the people here in the hotel treated us like family," he said. "You've given us a new beginning, and we have warm feelings for Hawai'i, which we will carry with us all of our lives. So for all of us from New York, I wanted to say — what's the word? — mahalo, thank you very much."
Pfeifer said everyone was more relaxed after a week in Hawai'i.
"Just the outpouring from all the people of Hawai'i, not just here in the hotel, people saying, 'Oh, you don't pay here, you are our guests.'"
Waikiki Marriott manager C. Dennis Nau thanked the New Yorkers "for giving us the opportunity to show our appreciation ... for the men and women who dedicate themselves to our protection, day in and day out."
Nau said the stay, which represented more than $50,000 worth of free hotel rooms at the Marriott alone, also gave the resort a chance to at least temporarily bring back some of the staff who had been furloughed after Sept. 11.
A visitor from Germany, Gunter Scheibel of Munich, stopped outside the hotel to watch the farewells.
"It's great, what the people are doing," said Scheibel, 54. "Americans are very good at dealing with this, they keep together, you know, in these very, very tough times. America is handling this very well."
Frances Garvey sat crying on a curb, with a picture of her son, fallen firefighter Matthew Garvey of Squad One, hanging around her neck.
"This week was really very, very good, but I'm not able to let go of things, the memories. It's hard, very hard," she said.
Was she ready to go home?
"Not really," she said, "because there's nothing there."
Vincent Ragusa, who wore a picture of his late son, Firefighter Michael Ragusa of Engine 279, held his wife, Dee, and listened to the music.
"Our week was wonderful, the people here have such warm feelings," he said.
Wasn't that also true of New Yorkers?
"Absolutely," Dee Ragusa said, in tears. "Ours are just harder to find."
Reach Walter Wright at wwright@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8054
