Erin Reagan (Boyle)
"My name is Erin Reagan, at that time Reagan-Boyle, and I am a Manhattan ADA," Erin began after Sean started the camera. "On that day, I had decided to keep Nikki out of school since she had a cold and dropped her with Mom. I was driving into Manhattan to take a deposition. I saw the first plane hit off in the distance and gasped." She shook her head as she sat in her office. "I pulled over to turn on the radio, and they were talking about it, but they didn't know anything just yet. I sat there listening to the radio and watching the burning tower for what seemed like forever until I heard the scream of the second plane and watched it hit the second tower. That's when I knew it wasn't an accident."
"What did you do?"
"I turned around and went back to the house," Erin said. "Grandpa was at the hospital with Grandma Betty. She had been fighting something all summer and had been taken in for pneumonia after Sunday dinner. Dad, Joe and Danny were down at Ground Zero and your mom headed in to St Benjamin's where she had been working before Jack was born to see if she could be of any help. She'd had some kind of appointment but figured that it had been canceled." Erin shrugged. "We felt helpless for the better part of the day. We didn't know if any of the men were dead or alive until we got word from Lynda at Ground Zero. Uncle Jack had gotten through to let us know he was OK and just staying put at the office. We also got a call through to your Uncle Jamie up at Harvard. He wanted to drive down, but we thought we talked him into waiting."
"He drove down anyway?"
Erin nodded. "He showed up the next morning," she said. "Everyone was at the house. Dad, Danny and Joe went in, but mom, Lynda and I gathered together some extra blankets and clothing to take in to Ground Zero for the men there. We also cooked lots of food to feed them. Everyone in the neighborhood had made something and we left the kids with Lynda while we took everything in. Your mom tried to stay away from Manhattan after that since she'd had confirmation for why she had been going in the day of…"
Sean was intrigued. "What was she confirming?"
"That you were coming," Erin said with a smile. "The one ray of light in all that gloom was the knowledge that another member of the family would soon be joining us."
Sean smiled and wiped away a tear. "How long was everyone at the house?"
"Until Sunday," Erin replied. "We went in to church and had Sunday Dinner as usual. Then we all went home."
"What about Grandma Betty?"
"She got to come home on Friday and it seemed like she was going to be OK," Erin said. "But with everything in the air," Erin shrugged. "She was never able to shake it completely and she died in early December after a third bout of Pneumonia." Erin grunted. "Grandpa considers her the only casualty in our family of 9/11."
"Is there anything else?"
"That's all I remember," Erin replied. "I'm sorry if it wasn't all that interesting."
Sean shrugged. "It's your story," he said. "I thought it was told perfectly." He turned off the camera.