CLAUDIA MARTINEZ FOSTER: Proud to
Be Big Sister
As
the oldest in a family of girls, Claudia Martinez Foster
promised her parents she would always look after her
three younger sisters. One day, she told them, she was
even going to give the Martinez family its big wish: a
baby boy. Married almost a year, the 26-year-old
assistant broker for Cantor Fitzgerald had already begun,
with her husband, to pick out baby names. They were
planning to buy a house and start a family later this
year. She liked the name Carlos, in honor of her father.
Her husband could not decide.
"My daughter was a true family person," said Blanca
Martinez. "She was proud to be the big sister, always
helping me with my youngest, taking her to the movies,
bowling, shopping. She liked to call what she did `sister
power.'"
Watching such a young, promising life fade away has
made the grieving even more trying. "She has so much to
live for, and to go like this," Mrs. Martinez said. "I
pray for God to give me strength to accept her death. But
as a mother I don't know how to let go. I want to keep
hoping for a miracle."
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