By:Angela Marshall and Larry Maier
RVC couple
welcomed new baby on Sept. 11
The Old Testament's Book of Ecclesiastes says there is a time for everything under the sun, including a time to be born and a time to die.
Just hours after American Airlines Flight 11 struck Tower One of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, Emily Rose McGarity drew her first precious breath.
The happy, healthy, 7-pound, 7-ounce, baby girl was born at South Nassau Community Hospital in Oceanside at 12:54 p.m. She was two days early.
Cradling Emily in her arms, her mother, Cindy said, "It was a happy day but a very sad day."
John McGarity, Emily's father, said he will never forget the mix of emotions he felt that day.
Just hours before their daughter's birth, one of Cindy and John's best friends was lost in the ruins of the World Trade Center. Joe Hunter, a firefighter from South Hempstead, was one of the first on the scene after the attacks.
When John and Cindy married in March 2000, Joe was a member of the wedding party.
Cindy went into labor the day before the attacks and checked into the hospital around midnight. By morning, she was having heavy contractions and remembers little. "The day was just a fog," she said.
Soon after the first plane hit, John turned off the TV and tried to shield Cindy from news. But it was all the doctors and nurses were talking about.
John said he just kept coaching and tried to stay focused on the task at hand.
It wasn't until Emily was delivered and Cindy was in recovery that she learned the extent of the damage. Though still a little groggy, Cindy was also worried. "Where is everybody?" she asked John about their friends and family.
By afternoon the couple started to hear rumors that Joe was missing. When Cindy fell sleep, John went to stand vigil with other friends at Joe's house. He went back again the next day, hoping to be there when the call came that his friend was found. Joe is one of 18 firefighter still missing from his firehouse.
It was a very bittersweet time, John said.
Adding to the couple's anxiety is the fact that John is employed by United Airlines as a ramp serviceman. He has worked on the United airliner that hit the second tower. John said he is likely to remain a little uneasy until the airline business stabilizes. "I'm fearing for my job but I'm hopeful."
John and Cindy have little time for worrying. "She keeps us busy," John said, smiling at his daughter.
When he and Cindy look at their beautiful newborn daughter, they can't be anything but hopeful about the future. They have saved many newspaper stories in case Emily has questions about the day she was born.
Emily's grandfather Francis "Bud" Cosgrove called her a "bright spot for us in the midst of all this horror."
The rest of Emily's grandparents are equally as proud. They are Bud's wife, Suzanne Cosgrove , and Frank and Loretta McGarity of Tampa, Fla.
