Family Tribute:

David...Dear,

When I was 8 years old, I began to dream of you and see you when I looked up into the stars at night. I always knew you were looking up at the same stars and was anxious for the day we would meet. Once we were in the same place at the same time, it took only 3 weeks until you tapped me on the shoulder, a stranger, on the way home from class at SUNY Cortland. You have been the focus of my life, and object of my love and passion ever since that day.

We've had a Beautiful life together and my soul is forever wounded from your absence.

Your boys, Davin and Dylan miss you horribly and Dylan speaks of you daily...I hope you can hear him. Dylan turned 5 four months ago and has grown much taller and wiser. Davin celebrated his 9th birthday on Monday. He's looking more like a man every day. The immensity of this tragedy will never fade in our hearts and minds. I wish for nothing more than another trip in your boat, gazing over at you at the helm as you happily navigate the choppy waters of the Hudson with the wind rushing through your hair and the boys bouncing at the bow with great big smiles and laughter.

I Love You Eternally and will run to and re-join your beautiful warm soul when I arrive in Heaven. Please watch closely over us and guide us to a peaceful life here until we can be together again...

...Your Wife, Deborah...Dear

Deborah Garcia (Freeport, NY )
April 10, 2002

David Garcia was a man who could make things work, albeit in the most unusual ways. Once, he patched up a pair of run- down work boots by gluing pieces of tire to the soles. And when the floor on his future wife's Chevy Malibu rusted out, he retrieved his tin sandbox and welded it to the bottom.

But Mr. Garcia could not fix his eyesight, which began deteriorating when he was 10 years old and had, by the age of 40, left him with 20 percent of his vision.

So he found ways to compensate for the independence he lost along with his view of the world, said Deborah A. Garcia, his wife.

A computer programmer, Mr. Garcia began working on a contract basis, most recently for Marsh & McLennan. He had enough vision left that he could still go boating, his family said.

Mr. Garcia's older son, Davin, 8, had his own boat: a remote control toy that broke last summer. After Sept. 11, Mrs. Garcia discovered it in the basement. "It was all put back together," she said. "He fixed it the night before this happened."