A Widow's Walk

This is a book written from the deepest sadness imaginable, but while it is terribly moving, it is not sad. Marian Fontana has filled A Widow's Walk with her life and love for her husband, Dave. So much so that you end up wishing you could have known them together. But of course, Dave was a firefighter who she lost on 9/11, a date which also happened to be their anniversary. Nice touch, god. For those of us who have wondered: What would we do? Fontana takes us through the year that followed with the skill of a novelist, showing us the amazing network of support that she found in the lives she and her husband had touched. Compulsively readable and admirably non-political (for the most part), it is as fine a tribute as I can imagine for a father and a husband.

I originally bought this book for the sole reason that Marian and i were childhood friends who grew up on the same street together in Staten Island. I knew of Dave's death shortly after 9/11 and kept Marian and her family in my thoughts daily. I knew Marian was gifted but was totally unprepared for how much this book would touch me and change my life. I now view the people i love in a different way. Her book was beautiful and so well written. I felt like i can somewhat understand what all of these brave people went through both firefighters and their families, in the wake of 9/11.

To be honest, I am generally not a fan of memoirs of this type. I mean yes this is a woman who suffered a profound tragedy but does this mean she can write? Well, after devouring it's nearly 450 pages in a couple of sittings, I think it can be said, that Marian Fontana is a writer. A damn good one. She deserves not only to have her story told but to tell it herself. This is both an honest and humorous look at the grieving process as well as a fascinating piece of history. Fontana's account of how she and her some of her fellow widows organized and stood up not only for 911 victims and their families, but for firemen themselves, gives us an inside look at just how these men who perform the most dangerous and lauded of work, are basically treated like crap. There is something very special about this book and just how close it puts you to the incredilby profound grief that enveloped Ms. Fontana's life. Yet, I never really felt sorry for her because I don't think she allows the reader to do that. She is a strong person yet she admits her flaws, thus making her even stronger. This is a must read for anyone interested in 9-11 as well as anyone interested in grief, love and loss.

From the opening moments of this amazing book, I was taken deep into the extraordinary and life-defining days of the beautiful and sweeping romance of Marian and her husband of 17 years, Dave. "A Widow's Walk" is, at its core, a story of how a family survives long after the unexpected happens. And that unexpected was September 11, 2001. When the simple, familiar euphoria of everyday life is shattered and the world turns upside down. With her distinctive sense of irony (and humor), Marian struggles with the insatiable need to collapse from the impact of overwhelming emotions but is forced to remain engaged in motherhood and provide their son, Aidan, with a safe, nurturing and consistent life in the midst of extreme, significant chaos. It is also about how activity as a response for devestation leads to understanding and hope. Fontana forces herself in motion by sheer will and courage and the rewards (although never enough to bring Dave back home) are transformative and considerable--they redefine the family. Marian and the other widows must endure one funeral after another after ANOTHER but, ultimately, join together and memorialize their husbands by taking on the rough city. And this is NY: a metropolis that will rely on firefighters in a time of crisis but make them beg and grovel for the most miniscule increases in salary. With a keen eye for strategy and knowing that this moment in history can help instigate change in the system (you really CAN fight City Hall), Marian and the brave people of her world move forward with inspiring impact. "A Widow's Walk" shows that true love lives on even in the cruel way that life moves us forward. And that journey is never the way it is in the movies: it is often travelled with pitfalls and self-doubt, guilt and fear but, in the end, esteem and the love that remains deep inside a heart of steel.

"A Widow's Walk" is so much more than a memoir about the tragedy of 9/11. It is about a love story - not only a love story between Marian and her firefighter husband Dave, who died when the towers collapsed, but between Marian and so many others whose lives this remarkable woman touched. The book begins at 8:15 AM on Marian and Dave's anniversary - September 11, 2001. Her husband was not supposed to be at work but was on the job because Marian had insisted he switch shifts so that they could celebrate their anniversary together. They were to meet in ten minutes at Connecticut Muffin to begin their anniversary day together. Dave never showed up. The reader will not be able to put the book down. It is at turns tragic, hilarious, heartbreaking, but never dull. Although you, the reader, knows the outcome of that fateful day, we never stop hoping that Marian's beautiful smiling husband will walk through the door with roses for her anniversary. We not only feel her grief but the grief of many other firefighter's families as they find out their loved ones will never come home. And yes, Mrs. Fontana, although circumpect, minces no words when speaking out against how she feels President Bush has "squandered a rare moment when the world's nations came to support America in the wake of 9/11." More importantly, the love between mother and son shines through on every page. Telling any child their parent is dead is heartwrenching. Mrs. Fontana did so and continues to treat Aidan with dignity and respect. We can all learn from them both. Regardless of one's politics the reader cannot come away from this book without an enormous amount of respect for this woman and wishing that you had a best friend just like her.