.

.

     

Antoinette Duger: Making Time to Help

 

Rose Duger Duane remembers calling her brother shortly after having a baby and asking if he and his wife could baby-sit. He declined, saying they had plans. But her sister-in-law, Antoinette Duger, quickly called back. Of course, they could watch the baby, Ms. Duane recalled her saying, "I don't know what he was saying."

Ms. Duane feels certain Mrs. Duger canceled the couple's plans so they could help out. Mrs. Duger, 44, an operations associate for First Union on the 47th floor of 1 World Trade Center, was all about family. She rose at 5:30 each morning to spend time with her 8-year-old daughter, Megan, and evenings were dedicated to homework and housekeeping.

Coming from a close-knit Italian family, she was a wonderful cook. Each year she would gather with her mother and sisters to press their own tomatoes and bottle a year's worth of sauce for each. "I think there's a line in literature that sums up Antoinette's life,"said Ms. Duane. "It was a simple life, well lived."

.

From "Profiles in Grief" of The New York Times