Since Christy Addamo was lost in the attack on the World Trade Center, her parents and sister have been overwhelmed by phone calls, letters and bouquets of flowers at the family home in New Hyde Park."I'm getting flowers from people and I don't even know who they are," said her father, Greg Addamo. "A lot of people are missing her right now."
Christy, 28, was on the 98th floor of Tower One when the first plane hit it. A senior accountant at Marsh & McLennan, her parents describe her as a talented and thoughtful person at an exciting time in her life.
"She was doing very well in her position," her father said. "She felt she was being groomed to take over her boss' job."
She was optimistic about a new relationship she had started about three months before the attack, he said.
And she was enjoying living at home in New Hyde Park, where she and her older sister, Dawn, shared a portion of their parents' house.
"Her comment was, 'Why am I going to pay rent when I have it great here?'" recalled her father with amusement. "'I'm not stupid.'"
Christy was very much her father's daughter, he admitted.
"She was my little girl," he said quietly.
Christy's mother, Rita Addamo, put it another way. "She was the center of his universe," she said. "They both liked the Yankees. They would watch TV together, and go to games. They were on the same plain, that's for sure."
Since the attack, Rita said she's been struck by the extent of people's affection for her daughter. One friend had saved all the birthday cards Christy sent her over the years, with personal verses and notes inscribed in Christy's hand inside.
Rita said she was familiar with these characteristic acts of tenderness on the part of her daughter.
But, she said, "I didn't know her friends cherished it as much as they did.
"She's going to be sorely missed," her mother said. "That's for sure."
A memorial service is planned for Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at Notre Dame Roman Catholic Church in New Hyde Park.
(c) 2001 Newsday, Inc. Reprinted with permission. www.newsday.com
