The succession of terrorist attacks that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001 in New York City had a lasting effect on all American citizens and Ann Gleavy, Cabrini alumna ‘88, has a heartfelt connection to the sudden dysfunction.
Gleavy met Mike Mancusso in grade school and after 10 years of lost communication, they were reunited while working at the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1988. While they were friends when they first realized they would be working together, their relationship bloomed into something much deeper.
Through the ups and the downs, Gleavy and Mancusso supported each other 100 percent. Naturally they spent as much time physically together as they could but with their work at the FBI being so demanding, there would be periods where their jobs would force them to be states apart. At their furthest stretch, Gleavy was located in Savannah, GA and Mancusso was in Los Angeles, CA.
With the distance, phone calls became their one-way ticket to each other.
“Before we hung up we would always say to each other ‘Goodnight, I love you,’” Gleavy said.
After spending four years apart, Gleavy moved back to Maryland and Mancusso moved back to New Jersey. While their relocation lessened the strain of hosting a long-distance relationship, they still valued those calls to each other.
“We were inseparable,” she said. “We worked and played together if we were in the same place or not.”
Gleavy has had a history of health issues and on Sept. 10, 2001, she went into surgery to battle an ovarian tumor in a Washington D.C. hospital.
“I survived because he was on the phone with me,” Gleavy said. “He worked in the office building right next to the towers. The next morning he called me on his way to get coffee at 1 World Trade Center and the last words we said to each other were:
Mancusso: ‘I love you. I’ll see you on Friday.
Gleavy: I love you. Have a quad shot of espresso for me!’”
Within five minutes of hanging up, she witnessed the towers being set ablaze on her hospital television.
Had she not been in the hospital for her surgery, Gleavy would have been at work just six blocks away from the Pentagon, which also took a hit from an aircraft approximately an hour after the World Trade Center had collapsed.
“After we heard that the Pentagon had been attacked, I was released from the hospital so they could make room for victims that needed treatment,” Gleavy said.
She had not heard any news from Mancusso after the attack, but was given the gift of relief when she heard that her family was unharmed. Her cousin was supposed to be working in a restaurant at the top of the towers but instead attended a meeting and her aunt, who used to work at the World Trade Center, witnessed the crash with a cup of coffee in hand from her Bayonne, NJ home’s balcony.
Unfortunately, Mancusso was not as fortuitous as Gleavy’s family.
Mancusso was a victim of the first tower. Growing up in NJ he was a lifeguard and paramedic, so his natural instinct was to save the lives of others before considering his own.
“It took three weeks until they found his arm. He could have just run away but instead did what his instinct told him to and tried to get as many people out of the World Trade Center as he could,” Gleavy said. “It was hard. It was hard because he was my best friend and we were going to spend the rest of our lives together.”
While Gleavy was, and still is, heartbroken over losing the love of her life, she uses her experience to strengthen the lives of others.
“Since 9/11 I have been very active in fundraisers pertaining to it. I run in the 9/11 Family and Friends Run and participate in Tuesday’s Children,” Gleavy said.
Tuesday’s Children is a charity that offers guidance to children who lost a parent or guardian in the Twin Tower’s collapse. Along with charities, there are support groups that work to strengthen those affected by the terrorist raid. Gleavy is a member of an association that unites those who lost their significant others in the attack and is grateful for the uplifting spirits they have brought one another.
“When I got the call that Mike had passed, it was difficult. I was angry, I was sad but I was with everyone else which made it easier. America has come together since Sept. 11, 2001 and that day changed my life along with the lives of over 3,000 people. Freedom is not free and always remember to thank a hero. They give their lives for us.”
This was well written, thank you Lauren. I am glad you were able to share my story to my alumni.