No greater love

The passengers and crew of Flight 93 have been preparing to move and said their goodbyes.

Flight attendant Sandy Bradshaw calls her husband and tells him she is getting scalding water ready to throw at the hijackers. Joseph DeLuca calls his dad; his girlfriend, Linda Gronlund, calls her sister, Elsa Strong. 

Elsa Strong, Joseph DeLuca's sister:  She said—“Hi, Else, this is Lin. I just wanted to tell you how much I love you.”  And she said, “Please tell mom and dad how much I love them.”  And then she got real calm and said, “Now my will is in my safe and my safe is in my closet.  And this is the combination.”  And she just told me the combination of her safe.  And then she just said, “I don’t know if I’m ever gonna get a chance to tell you again in person how much I love you, but I’m really gonna miss you.”  And she said goodbye.

Lauren Grandcolas leaves a second message for her husband, Jack... in a voice so composed, he says she might have been calling from a supermarket:

Lauren Grandcolas' message: “Honey, are you there?  Jack, pick up sweetie.  Okay, well I just wanted to tell you I love you.  We’re having a little problem on the plane.”

Jack Grandcolas, Lauren's husband:  I heard her say, "There’s a little problem on the plane, I’m totally fine, just a little problem, I want you to know how much I love you, know that...."  stopping herself from saying “I’ll call you back" as if she didn’t want to leave a haunting promise.

Grandcolas message: “I’m totally fine, I just love you more than anything, just know that.  And you know, I’m, you know, I’m comfortable and I’m okay... for now.  Just a little problem. So I just love you, please tell my family I love them too.  Bye, honey.”

Grandcolas then hands her phone to the young woman sitting next to her, and tells her to call her family. Elizabeth Wainio, calls her stepmother, Esther Heymann.

Jere Longman, New York Times reporter:  Elizabeth seemed to be speaking calmly, but her breathing was shallow, as if she were hyperventilating. And Esther said, “Elizabeth, I’ve got my arms around you, and I’m holding you, and I love you.’ Trying to calm her.  Elizabeth said, ‘I can feel your arms around me.  And I love you, too.”

Flight attendant CeeCee Lyles had already left a message for her husband, Lorne. A police officer, he’d worked the night shift and was asleep when she called:

CeeCee Lyles message: “Hi baby. Baby - you have to listen to me carefully. I’m on a plane that’s been hijacked. I’m on a plane, I’m calling from the plane. I want to tell you that I love you. I love you. Please tell my children that I love them very much- and I’m so sorry babe. I don’t know what to say- there’s three guys. They’ve hijacked the plane. I’m trying to be calm. We’ve turned around and I’ve heard that there’s planes that have flown into the World Trade Center. I hope to be able to see your face again, baby. I love you, bye.”

When the telephone rings again, this time it wakes him up, and she tells him what’s happening.

Lorne Lyles:  I thought, me just waking up, I thought she was joking, you know?  I said, “Babe, stop joking.”  She said, “No, babe, I’m not joking.  I wouldn’t call you and play like that.”

Marion Britton, a 53-year-old manager for the Census Bureau, calls an old friend, Fred Fiumano plainly terrified.

Fred Fiumano, Marion Britton's friend:  She said, “We’re gonna. They’re gonna kill us, you know, We’re gonna die.’ And I told her, “Don’t worry, they hijacked the plane, they’re gonna take you for a ride, you go to their country, and you come back.  You stay there for vacation.”  You don’t know what to say—what are you gonna say? I kept on saying the same things, ‘Be calm.’  And she was crying and - you know - more or less crying and screaming and yelling.

Lyz Glick is still talking to her husband, Jeremy and he’s telling her about the plan to stop the hijackers.

Lyz Glick:  And then, you know, I finally just decided, gut instinct, that, “Honey, you need to do it.”  And then, you know, he joked.  He’s like, “Okay, I have my butter knife from breakfast.” You know, which is totally like Jeremy.

As they both cry, Jeremy takes the time to prepare his wife for a life without him.

Lyz Glick:  We said I love you a thousand times over and over and over again, and it just brought so much peace to us, and it wasn’t even the words, I felt the feeling from it.  He told me to - he told me, “I love Emmy,” who is our daughter, and to take care of her.  Then he said, whatever decisions you make in your life, I need you to be happy, and I will respect any decisions that you make.  That’s what he said, I think that gives me the most comfort.  He sounded strong.  He didn’t sound panicked.  You know, very clear-headed. I told him to put a picture of me and Emmy in his head to be strong.

Jane Pauley, NBC News: So you were strong for him, as he was strong for you?

Lyz Glick: Mm-hmm.  I mean, neither of us panicked.  He knew that he was not going to make it out of there.

Pauley: And so did you?

Lyz Glick: I had hope.

Several of the passengers pray.  GTE Operator Lisa Jefferson says the Lord’s Prayer along with Todd Beamer.

Lisa Jefferson, GTE (Airfone operator): After that he had a sigh in his voice, he took a deep breath.  He was still holding the phone... but he was not talking to me, he was talking to someone else. And he said, ‘You ready?  Ok.  Let’s roll.’

Flight attendant Sandy Bradshaw tells her husband they are all running to first class together.  “I’ve got to go, bye,” she says... and drops the phone.

Elizabeth Wainio ends her call abruptly, too.

Longman:  Elizabeth said, ‘Mom, they’re rushing the cockpit.  I’ve gotta go.  Bye.’

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