(Continued from Part Two)

One week before we were to return to New York to see 42^nd Street, my sister called to tell me she had broken her leg in a motorcycle accident. Not only would she be unable to use her ticket, she would be recovering from surgery to insert a seven-inch metal rod just above her ankle.

“I know you’re terribly disappointed,” she cried into the phone. “You’ll still go, won’t you? Will you go with someone else?”

I had the first question answered before she hung up. Yes, I would go. As long as I could still walk, I knew I would be at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts when the curtain went up on September 18. I wasn’t sure about the other question, though, and spent a day or so contemplating my new twist of fate. Who was the “someone else” sitting beside me in my front-and-center birthday seat meant to be? Not “MooseWatcher”, bless his heart, and not my daughters, who were busy with back to school activities. I wondered….until the answer became obvious.

My companion for the evening was Juliet, a beautiful young woman who had spent the past year volunteering for the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund. When I offered my extra ticket back to the relief effort, fund director Edie Lutnick decided to give it to Juliet for her selfless work in supporting the eBay auctions and other fund-raising events for Cantor families.

Actually, Juliet had spent some time away from the relief effort. As we took our seats in the theater, she told me she had just come from performing a stage production in Washington, D.C. She was an up-and-coming actress, a singer and a dancer.

“Oooh….have you starred here on Broadway?” I whispered as the 42^nd Street overture began.

“No,” she said with a slow smile, not moving her gaze from center stage. “Not yet, anyway.”

(For more, see Remebering 9/11 and 9/11/11: A Time to Share Edie’s Story)

— Editor’s Note: Juliet has since landed roles in Hollywood, including an appearance in the popular TV sitcom, Mike and Molly.