9/11 2,996 Bloggers Tribute - Gricelda E. James

From the guestbook for Gricelda at Legacy.com -

October 12, 2001
Griselda was a wonderful, gifted and full of life person. She was shy..but very sweet. I knew Griselda from our days growing up in Tela, Honduras, she will be greatly missed, but not forgotten. - Sylvia Durant (Bronx, NY )

I thought I would lead off this tribute to Gricelda James with a personal note from someone who knew her.

For those who don't know, a project was started for 2,996 bloggers to each memorialize one of the September 11th victims on their own blog. Gricelda's name became the person I would attempt to memorialize in some hopefully meaningful way, as much as a stranger to her could . . . .

She was 44, from Willingboro, N.J. She was an administrative assistant for International Office Centers Corp., and was confirmed dead at/in the World Trade Center.

I know that I did not know her, but I was an administrative assistant when I could work, and so I know a good deal about what that entails, and where you sit on the totem pole in the office pecking order, and such. It tends to be a thankless job . . . but one which I know that I tried my best at, anyway, because people just do not REALIZE everything a "secretary" does . . . .

When I read that she was an administrative assistant, I did feel like I knew a bit of what parts of her work life might have been like, and felt more of a connection. I was eager, though, to find some personal notes and memories left somewhere on the web, from those who knew her, so I could get a window into what she was like, this person who was cruelly and abruptly taken from her loved ones and friends five years ago, and whose loss is still likely felt by them, as well as, in whatever way we can, by the rest of us who mourn the lost from that day.

From her guestbook at September11Victims.com:

Amber Green

Commenter Email and IP address is in file
09/27/2004 11:52:58 AM

I knew Gricelda and she was a very sweet person. She was married to my uncle and they were in love. My deepest sympathy goes out to Uncle Mike and the James family. I'm glad I found this site because just to see her picture brings back only good memories, which will let her live on forever.

Amber Green

Rachel

Commenter Email and IP address is in file
04/12/2006 6:20:09 PM

Mrs. James' husband worked at my school at the time. I knew they were deeply in loved, shared 5 beautiful children, and both were very successful. I pray that her family, and friends are blessed and that she will never be forgotten. She was a wonderful woman.

Here is a link to an article about her, written in January of 2002, by Kathleen Kernicky of The Sun-Sentinel. From this article, I learned that she traveled to her hometown of Tela, Honduras in August for a 2-1/2 week visit. A quote from that article:

"She spent a lot time with my mother. She saw a lot of her old friends, people she grew up with. People she had not seen in a long time. She came back to work in September, and a week later, this happened ... She was saying goodbye," Garo-Brown said.

I also learned from this article that she worked on the 79th floor, and had worked there for 2 years. She moved to the U.S. in 1995 after studying business administration in college in Honduras.

When she moved to the U.S., she got a job in Boston. During a visit to New York, she visited an old friend from when she was growing up in Honduras. He had a crush on her when they were teenagers, but she married a different man. At this time, she was the divorced mother of two boys, and after renewing their connection, they fell in love and got married a year later. They moved into a new house in N.J.

That is absolutely one of the most romantic stories I have ever heard. What a long time to wait for your ladylove!

A quote from the article that fits ME to a T, as well, is:

"She had her own personality," her sister said. "To know her is to love her. She was quiet. She wasn't a woman of too many words. Once she got to know you, you couldn't shut her up."

Yeah, that's me, quite often, it seems. Although I don't know if to know me is to love me, though. One of my goals for this tribute was for me to try to get a glimpse of the REAL person behind the name that is one of many on so many lists that are posted on various web sites and blogs . . . . to try and connect in some way with her. Not in order to re-traumatize myself about 9/11/2001, but rather to get a different perspective on that day, to bring it down to a scale that is more understandable, and not so vast that it seems to fail one's ability to grasp it. To see the PERSON, and not just the name on the list. I feel like I am succeeding a bit in that goal, as I write, here. Forgive me if I fail in any aspect in this tribute; these are my feelings and thoughts mixed up with what I am learning about Gricelda, and the LIFE she had and was LIVING.

There is a scene in the movie, The Core, where the Ukrainian/Russian character says to the others something like, and I paraphrase, "Me, I'm not trying to save 6 billion people; that's too much, that's too big. All I can think about saving is three people, my wife and kids. I just hope I am good enough, and smart enough, to save THREE."

This is kind of what I am trying to convey with my tribute; what I am trying to feel and see, and what I am trying to say and show about 9/11 and the tragic death of Mrs. Michael James. That, perhaps, 9/11 might just be too big to comprehend, with the scale and the scope of it, but that when we take an individual look, at an individual, that from this we might find something profound for ourselves; that from this we might learn something about ourselves, and our feelings about that day; that from this we might learn something about Gricelda, and the light and presence she brought to those people she worked and played with, laughed, lived, and loved with; that from this we might somehow be just that little bit different for having read and learned about her, and by so doing, the ripples outward from her presence here on this earth will continue to have a positive effect on the world she left behind.

She was a creative person, enjoying floral design and decoration. I, too, love to create. This is another quality about her that I feel that I can understand a bit of. Creation is in my blood.

Another quote from the article:

"She was very creative," her sister said. "That was her next step, to start doing that. Everything at her home, she did herself. She had a sewing machine and she sewed everything herself. Her curtains, her vases of flowers that she made herself out of material. You'd walk in and you knew she made everything."

I am saddened by Gricelda's death, but I am grateful to those who organized this project for the opportunity to get to know this vibrant person. She seems so, from what I have learned about her. I hope that I, in some small way, have done her memory justice.

Gricelda James Scholarship Fund

Scholarship set up in memory of Gricelda E. James. To make a donation, contact the Westampton Township Public Schools, 710 Rancocas Road, Westampton, NJ 08060.

A link to an article about three (including Gricelda) New Jersey victims, their loved ones, their phone calls to each other on 9/11, and what followed.

A link to an article about her husband Michael, in March 2002, and his life after 9/11 without her.

A link to a 9/11 quilt gallery, online. Go HERE and input her name, and it'll pull up the quilt square made in her memory.