Mark Morabito
/ photo: Alex Dunbar
SYRACUSE -- His face is puffier, his hair more gray than it was ten years ago. His heart condition leaves him breathy at times. Mark Morabito has been through a lot in the ten years since terrorists took his wife's life on September 11, 2001. He states simply, "my life change completely from what it used to be."
Mark had just married Laura Lee Morabito six months before the attacks. He vividly recalls seeing the news on television that the plane she had boarded had been flown into the World Trade Center. He also remembers what made his wife special.
"Her legacy will always go on. She had a beautiful smile she was infectious when she went into a room," Mark said as he remembered his wife. "Those things will never be forgotten in my mind even though it's ten years later."
In the years immediately following the attacks Mark was an advocate for victims of 9/11. He raised money for charity. He appeared frequently on television and considered a run in politics. The last five years have been different. "I've suffered four heart attacks. Had a triple bypass. A defibrillator and a pacemaker put in four weeks ago. I have 18 stents," Mark said.
"A lot of stress. I aged. I turned white." He smiled as he brushed the now graying hair in his temples.
Mark remarried just two months ago with the blessing of his late wife's family. He has a three-year-old daughter. He tries to keep his life moving forward, but still deals with the pain on what happened a decade ago.
