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Sep 11, 2006 8:26 pm US/Eastern
Local 9/11 Widow Still Struggling With Loss
by Angela Russell
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
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Leroy Homer Junior pictured with his widow, Melodie
CBS
On this somber anniversary of 9/11, a local mother who lost her husband that day still struggles to heal. He was the first officer on United Flight 93, which went down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania when hijackers tried to take over.
Melodie Homer says she's felt the pressure to get on with her life; move on, but she says it is not that easy.
It's been five years, 260 weeks, 1,825 days and much time has passed since first officer Leroy Homer, Jr. confronted terrorists on United Flight 93.
For the wife he left behind, time hasn't ceased the constant reminders of what happened that day, making recovery even more challenging.
"I went to the movies, to see a comedy and there's a trailer for the World Trade Center, I'm trying to cheer myself up and here we go again," said Melodie.
"I could read a beach novel, very light and references to 9/11 there," added Melodie.
The attacks on our nation changed us -- at least for a time.
"I wish the empathy that people had initially would continue, not everyone can recover at the same time," said Melodie.
What's also difficult for Melodie is the feeling that we aren't safer today than we were five years ago.
She often questions whether to raise her children elsewhere.
"I would have hoped that five years after 9/11, we wouldn't still be losing Americans in what I see as a senseless war," said Melodie.
Pilot Leroy Homer Jr. was just 36-years-old in 2001and his daughter Laurel was just a month shy of her first birthday.
Homer's plane went down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania becoming the only hijacked aircraft not to reach its intended target.
It's been said that death can give meaning to life. While life will never be the same for the Homer family, it does go on with a purpose.
Melodie has established a scholarship fund in her husband's name to help young people become pilots and it helps Melodie keep her husband's memory alive.
"We just try not to be defined by that day, we want to be the Homer family," explained Melodie.
For more information, visit
Leroy Homer Jr. Foundation or call
800-388-1647 .
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
