Family Tribute:N A R E N D E R N A T H

Narender, Narender, that name sounds like music to my ears. I will never forget March 17, 1996. On that day I first laid eyes on Narender; whom God had given me for such a short time. I met him shopping, on his birthday. A year later, I was married to this wonderful man and was given the pleasure, joy and pride to be called his wife. Narender, has inspired me to be what I am today. When my husband walked into any room, he makes the room comes to life. Narender, is my life, my joy, my happiness. He is like the wind in my hair, the star, the moon, the cloud, the rain, the mountain, the trees, the sun and music to me. He is my very breath that helps me to breathe. He is one of the best husband, a woman can ever dream of having.

Marriage life with Narender was a dream come through. The first thing when I opened my eyes in the morning is to see a bright, shinning smile from my husband. He will tell me how he loves me and gives me a kiss. The day is magical, because he always pay attention to my needs. He will kiss and hug me. He never yelled at me and will always listen to what I have to say. There is always a word of encouragement from him, and he makes me feel like I am the most important person in his life. He only leaves my side whenever he has to go to work. We usually go shopping, visit my mom and friends together. Whenever I am cooking, he will be in the kitchen with me. We go to bed together and he will he always hug me. If I am in pain, he will always try to help me get better quickly.

Narender’s only hobby was me. He will miss me when he is away, and will try to come to me wherever he is. I know that is how he is feeling at the moment. I feel this way too and I wish I were with him. I do not want to face this life alone. He is the only man that truly understands my feelings. He is a strong man mentally and physically. He loves to read The Wall Street Journal, Business Week and Silicone India among other periodicals.

Narender, was a smart man. He was also kind, helpful and generous. My mother, brothers, sisters, brothers-in-law, nephews, nieces and I, love and adore him. He is our hero. My mother (Florence Ratansingh) would have given her life for him to return to this earthly life. We missed him a lot. The love and understanding that Narender has for my family and his family were tremendously great. He will do anything they ask for, and will always listen and offer his advise in his own indomitable way.

Such a man was my husband, Narender, who was taken away from me on that ill-fated morning of September 11, 2001 when terrorists crashed two airliners into the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York.

From his wife Ramona NathKeolahmatie Nath(Ramona)

He Made Sure 'Love Was Always There'

It was Narender Nath's 28th birthday, March 17, 1996, and he was out shopping for window blinds for his new apartment. That's when Keolahmatie Nath first encountered him in a hardware store in Queens.

'I don't know what I was looking for,' she said. 'I wasn't looking for anything specific that day, but I found a husband.'

Nath found a reason to talk to her. 'He asked me if I worked there,' she said. 'I said no, but I saw he was looking very cute, so I asked if he needed any help.'

He did. For one thing, Nath hadn't measured his windows to determine the size of the blinds he needed. For another, he wanted her phone number.

He called her that night, and they went out to Pizza Hut for dinner the following week. On Nath's next birthday, exactly a year after they met, the couple were married in City Hall.

The union of a lapsed Hindu from New Delhi and a Hindu-turned-Christian from Guyana worked out just fine, his wife said. 'Every day was like a fairy tale. Every day was like, love was always there, happiness was always there.'

Nath, 33, worked in quality assurance at Marsh & McLennan, on the 97th floor of Tower One. His wife was going to school full-time, working on a programming degree.

Nath would wake up extra early in the morning to take his wife out for breakfast before dropping her at school at 7:30. He'd pick her up at lunchtime so they could eat at their Colonia, N.J., home together, and then drop her back at school. 'If I had to go grocery shopping,' she said, 'he'd say, 'Wait for me, I'll go with you.'

Neither could go to bed without the other, she said. If she got up in the night, 'When I came back, his hand was always up, waiting for me.' And when her sister came to visit from the Bahamas last summer, the two women stayed up late every night watching three-hour Indian movies, and Nath would nap in the living room beside his wife, waiting for her to come to bed. 'I'd put a comforter on the floor and massage him,' she said. 'If I took my hand off him, he would wake up.'

The two shared a large desk where they studied, read books or worked on their computers together. They played football and basketball with their Jack Russell terrier, Bruce, and Nath doted on the dog. A month and a half before Nath was lost in the terrorist attacks, the couple had started trying to have a baby. 'He would have done everything for the baby,' she said wistfully.

Nath, who moved here from India nine years ago, was firmly nonreligious, and the only place he didn't go with his wife was to church on Sunday mornings. Still, she said, he was accepting of her faith as he was of everything about her, waking her up for morning services and then going out to breakfast with her afterward.

Though her Christian faith makes her worry about where her husband's soul is now, she said, 'From any perspective, if you're a good person, you should be happy. And he was a good person. ... I just hope God takes care of him for me.'

(c) 2001 Newsday, Inc. Reprinted with permission.www.newsday.com