The Fragility of Life

“Life–so precious, so beautiful . . . indeed a gift for it is here one day and taken for granted. The ability to get up and walk, to listen to the cicadas on this beautiful evening, to feel and luxuriate in the warm fragrant bath water. Oh yes–all a gift; savor it; feel it; see it; hear it; smell it; but most of all appreciate it. For like the life of a beautiful fragrant rose, it is here one moment and cruelly snatched away. A lesson for us all. (So on this beautiful evening of Monday, Sept, 1, 1997 at 9:15 p.m., I am counting myself lucky indeed. I want to awaken all my senses; I want to be alive in every possible way. I want to SAVOR it all. I will begin by being more in tune physically, emotionally and spiritually). Life is good . . . to life!!” (“The passing of Princess Diana makes one pause and think . . .”)

Dedicated with all my love to Donald and Diane Sheer! Diane was my beautiful mother and I am proud to share her thoughts.

Submitted by Michelle (Shelli) Terrien, MA, who lost her mother, Diane Sheer and stepfather, Donald Sheer on Swissair Flight 111, Nova Scotia, September 2, 1998

(Written by Diane A. Sheer on 9/1/97 who was a passenger aboard Swissair Flight 111, September 2, 1998 which fatally crashed into the waters of Nova Scotia, killing all 229 aboard)

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Families We Have Helped:

Below are some of the air disasters that we have responded to:
Private Plane - 9/26/12
Rockingham County, VA
Private Plane - 2/27/11
Abu Dhabi
Private Plane - 12/22/10
Barrington, NY
Private Plane - 7/17/10
South Portland, ME
Air India Express 812 - 5/22/10
Mangalore, India
Afriqiyah Airways 8U771- 5/12/10
Tripoli, Libya
Ethiopian Airlines 409 - 1/25/10
Off of Na'ameh, Lebanon
Air France Flight 447 - 6/1/09
Atlantic Ocean
Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 - 2/25/09
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Continental Flight 3407 - 2/12/09
Clarence Center, NY
US Airways Flight 1549 - 1/15/09
Hudson River, NY
Aeroflot Flight 821 - 9/14/08
Perm, Russia
Spanair JK 5022 - 8/20/08
Madrid, Spain
TAM Airways JJ 3054 - 7/17/07
São Paulo, Brazil
Comair Flight 5191 - 8/27/06
Lexington, KY
Airbus A320-211 - 5/3/06
Off Sochi, Russia
Bellview Airlines - 10/23/05
Nigeria
West Caribbean Airways 708 - 8/16/05
Machiques, Venezuela
Air France Flight 358 - 8/2/05
Ontario, Canada
Kam Air Flight 904 - 2/3/05
Pamir Mountains, Afghanistan
Corporate Airlines 5966 - 10/19/04
Pettis Township, MO
Kish Airlines Flight 1770 - 2/10/04
United Arab Emirates
Georgian Express Flight 126 - 1/17/04
Ontario, Canada
Flash Airlines 604 - 1/3/04

Red Sea

Turkish Airlines 634 - 1/8/03

Diyarbakır Airport, Turkey

US Airways Express/Air Midwest Flight 5481 - 1/8/03

Charlotte, NC

American Flight 587 - 11/12/01

Queens, NY

The events of September 11, 2001

Private Plane - 12/3/00
Milltown, WI
Singapore Airlines 006 - 10/31/00

Chiang Kai-shek Internat'l Airport

Gulf Air Bus A320 - 8/23/00

Persian Gulf, Bahrain

Air France Concorde 4590 - 7/25/00

Gonesse, France

Alaska Airlines 261 - 1/31/00

Pacific Ocean

Egypt Air 990 - 10/31/99

Atlantic Ocean

American Airlines 1420 - 6/1/99

Little Rock, AR

Swissair 111 - 9/2/98

Atlantic Ocean

Private Plane - 8/4/98
Phillips, WI
TWA 800 - 7/17/96

US Air 427 9/8/94

Allegheny County, PA

Long Island, NY

Pan Am 103 - 12/21/88

Lockerbie, Scotland

TWA/United Airlines - Mid-Air Collision- 12/16/1960
Brooklyn & Staten Island, NY
and hundreds of other private, commercial and military air disasters

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