Tatyana Bakalinskaya: Lived the
American Dream
Tatyana
Bakalinskaya did not love her job. But she loved where
she worked.
She was a hostess at the offices of Marsh &
McLennan, tending the kitchen and making sure that there
was always a pot of hot coffee available. But she worked
at the World Trade Center, on the 93rd floor. "For her,
every day was like a vacation," said her daughter
Natalie. "You could look out the window and see all of
New York City. It was too good to be true."
Mrs. Bakalinskaya, 43, came to New York from Ukraine
with her family in 1994 and started working at the trade
center about three years ago.
The move to America was exciting for the whole family,
but Ms. Bakalinskaya took to it the most. She worked out
daily at the gym, went to school to become a hairdresser
and when she turned 40, told everyone that her life had
just begun.
Natalie Bakalinskaya, 24, a graduate of Brooklyn
College who has inherited her mother's tough work ethic,
said that everyone in the family -- her father, sister
and grandfather -- has dealt with the loss in different
ways.
The holidays were difficult, but the family tradition
of celebrating New Year's Eve together at home was a
powerful reminder of their strength. "We prepared dinner
together and gave each other gifts," Natalie said. "It
was hard, but because we were all together it made it a
little easier."
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