Neilie Anne Casey: Runners and a
Torch
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There
is no logic to any of it; that much is obvious. But the
truth is that they did meet as freshmen, in logic
class.
That was at Holy Cross, and Michael Casey still
remembers the sight of Neilie Anne Heffernan's long
auburn hair.
They were married on Cape Cod in 1996 "because it was
meant to be," he said &emdash; their "incredible bond"
only intensified when their daughter, Riley Eileen, was
born nine months ago.
The Caseys were both runners. On Sunday, Sept. 9, they
took their daughter on her first three-mile road race
(Riley was the cute one in the jogging stroller).
On the night before the attack, the Caseys ,played a
travel video of Bermuda, planning the trip for their
fifth wedding anniversary, Sept. 21.
On Sept. 11, Mr. Casey kissed his wife goodbye and
watched from the bedroom window upstairs as she left
their house in Wellesley, Mass., at 5:45 a.m. "I flipped
the light on so she could see me, and she turned and
waved back as she left."
Thus this last memory before Mrs. Casey, 32, boarded
Flight 11 on a business trip to California.
Now Mr. Casey has been asked to be one of the runners
carrying the torch for the Winter Olympic Games in
February, "in honor," he said, "of Neilie."
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