Steven Gregory Genovese: Those
Matching Pajamas
The
first time the World Trade Center was attacked, in 1993,
Steven Gregory Genovese showed up hours later at a
Hoboken bar, much to his family's relief. So they held
out hope last fall that he would surface once again.
His older brother, John Thomas, who lives in
Manhattan, awaited his arrival with pizza. Steven's wife,
Shelly, had dinner and strawberry bread for him at their
home in Basking Ridge, N.J., every night that week.
Now when the question of his whereabouts comes up, his
18-month-old daughter, Jacqueline, chimes in. "He's up,"
she says.
Mr. Genovese was 37. Family and friends still cannot
fathom it.
His mother, Veronica, recalls a hard-working boy who
once used his 25-cent allowance to buy her a miniature
cup and saucer at a neighbor's yard sale. A so-so
student, as she put it, who rose to become a partner at
Cantor Fitzgerald.
His wife recalls a husband quick to tell everyone that
"they" were pregnant with Jacqueline, and one who wore
pajamas that matched his wife's and daughter's as they
opened presents on Christmas morning, a tradition in her
family. "He thought we were the biggest dorks dressing
alike," Ms. Genovese said, "but he totally went along
with it."
This Christmas, no one was in the mood.
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