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Amy King and Michael Tarrou: Wanting to Be Together

 

Amy King and Michael Tarrou, United Airlines flight attendants, were on Flight 175 when it crashed into the south tower. Working on the same flight was not uncommon: Ms. King and Mr. Tarrou had been dating for more than two years. They had recently started living together in Stafford Springs, Conn.

"They tried to get the same schedule so they could be together more," Deborah Lloyd, Ms. King's sister, said from her home in Naperville, Ill. "They were supposed to have a long layover in Chicago beginning Sept. 12. We were going to have dinner."

The youngest of three sisters, Ms. King, 29, grew up in a small town near Jamestown, N.Y. In high school, she ran track and cross-country. She liked to paint and was interested in clothing design. She started working for United in Chicago in 1993.

Mr. Tarrou, 38, grew up in Wantagh, on Long Island. He loved flying, but making music was a stronger love. "Originally we started playing in bands in Queens and on Long Island" in high school, said Tom Divine, a friend. "He was great at guitar, bass and keyboards and was pretty much the best vocalist I have ever worked with."

During layovers in the Bay Area, Mr. Divine said, he and Mr. Tarrou would spend time in the recording studio.

So far as anyone knows, Mr. Tarrou never asked Ms. King to marry him. But no one doubts that would have happened.

"They were engaged, in their own way," said Dr. James Tarrou, Michael's father. "We were encouraging him, because she was a remarkable person."

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From "Profiles in Grief" of The New York Times  

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Amy King: An Angel on Earth

I have attached an article (with a picture of Amy [left] and her sister Debbie King Lloyd, taken two months before Amy's death) written by my 15 year old son, Jeff, for the newspaper from the high school from which Amy graduated in 1989. This is how I got involved with the family--and the richness of the experience has been so rewarding and tragically sad for me.

I can no longer just think of the all "those" people who perished, because now I think of Amy, the most beautiful person inside and out, who was stolen from her family and the world. And, what a loss it is. . .

Cheryl Fardink

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Southwestern School celebrates the memory of Amy King, the 1989 graduate who tragically lost her life in the terrorist assault and resultant airplane crash on September 11, 2001. With the circle in front of the dome dedicated to Amy with a commemorative stone and the recent tree planting, Southwestern mourns the loss of a special alumna, who was, according to all who knew her well, an "Angel on Earth."

An avid runner and member of the Southwestern Cross Country team, Amy King lived her life like a champion, always striving to be better, always working to help those around her, always staying positive. To her friends, teammates, teachers, and coach, Amy was the shining light who always kept everyone else grounded and bathed in love, encouraged, inspired, and better for having had the privilege to know her.

Her friend, Jackson, friends since third grade, wrote a beautiful song to honor the loving way Amy lived her life. His song, both sad and enchanting, speaks to the faith, courage, and delight which characterized Amy King. One teacher said of Amy, "Amy knew no strangers." No more complimentary term could be offered to anyone. Amy's gift was that she never took her life for granted, appreciating each minute that she could share with her family.

Even though the incredible tragedy which stole Amy's life from her and from those her loved her was senseless and the act of a mad man, Amy's closest friends and family would say that Amy would not want us to mourn for her. She would, rather, implore us to live our lives in a better, more grateful manner because of her influence.

Last month, when I was leaving school, I saw the cross country team all huddling around Amy's stone in the circle in front of the dome. Each team member stroked the stone and touched its cool surface to ask for good luck from Amy in their run. It was a moment both melancholy and uplifting, a moment which spoke with the knowledge that the gift that Amy had for living life to the fullest would somehow be shared symbolically with those who shared her love for running and competition, for Southwestern, for family. Now, a beautiful tree has been planted next to the stone in the circle, symbolic not only of Amy, but also of life, a growing, developing essence which needs to be nurtured and respected. I am proud that Amy King went to Southwestern, proud and inspired to look daily at the place which honors her.

 

For Amy,

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:

Its loveliness increases; it will never

Pass into nothingness. . .

 

(John Keats, 1818)

 

 

And from Shakespeare,

 

And when she shall die,

Cut her into little stars,

And she will make the face of heaven so bright,

That all the world will be in love with night.

 

 

By

Jeffrey Robert Fardink

December 11, 2001

Freshman Editor

Southwestern High School Paper

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From Amy's friend, Cheryl Fardink and her 15-year old son, Jeffrey Robert Fardink