By Nicole Falco
In fact, Barbara DaMota said her newborn didn't even cry immediately after his birth like many babies do. But when she first laid eyes on her son it was she who cried.
"When I saw my baby my pain was all gone," Barbara said. "He looks exactly like his father."
Manuel Joao III was born on March 2 almost six months after his father, Manuel Joao DaMota II, died in the World Trade Center attack.
According to Barbara, her newborn especially looks like his father around his eyes, mouth and chin. While he shares his father's features, Manuel Joao III will only know his father through memories shared by his mother and 10-year-old brother, Chris. The newborn also has two half-brothers from his father's first marriage, Justin, 21, and David, 19.
"Every night I tell him, 'Mommy loves you and daddy loves you,'" Barbara said. "I will tell him his father was a very good husband, very good with his kids and with everybody he was good. I will tell him about his father's profession...what he did, what he loved."
She keeps the newspaper clippings about her husband that appeared in local papers after the World Trade Center tragedy.
"One day when he grows up I will explain what happened to him," Barbara said.
Manuel, a project manager for a Bronx-based woodworking company, was attending a breakfast meeting on the 107th floor of World Trade Tower One. The 43-year-old Valley Stream resident was discussing plans for a wine room for Windows on the World. As a project manager for Bronx Builders, Manuel's craftsmanship can be seen in such high-end restaurants as the Russian Tea Room and Nobu Next Door.
"I remember everyday. I cry everyday and it is hard everyday," Barbara said. "We were together all the time. I have his memory in all of these rooms."
It's also hard for Chris. The fifth-grade Shaw Avenue student is now the man of the house.
"Sometimes he is angry about what happened. He remembers what he did with his dad in the past," Barbara said.
One day, Chris will tell his baby brother all about their father, but for now he is eager to play with him. Chris enjoys holding his little brother, feeding him a bottle and especially kissing his puffy cheeks.
Recently, Barbara had wanted to visit ground zero with Chris, but he told her, "Mommy, I'm not ready to go yet."
Chris attends counseling offered through his school and Blessed Sacrament RC Church.
"He still needs it. I think I need it too," his mom said.
Looking down at her newborn son resting in her lap, Barbara DaMota said, "Sometimes when he looks to me I feel like his father is looking to me."
