Joanne Achladiotis: Gone but not forgotten
In a column with the eloquent title Portraits of Grief, The New York Times daily carries a moving tribute to those lost in the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers on September 11. Thursday it was the turn of Joanne Achladiotis, from Apokorona, Crete, who was working in one of the towers on the day of the attack. Her body was trapped under tons of rubble, but her spirit must be somewhere above New York, above Queens, where she had her apartment, and over Crete where her family lives and grieves. The following lines about Achladiotis were penned by colleagues and friends: Joanne Achladiotis never did anything halfway. She dressed impeccably and had her nails done once a week. She entertained regularly, making all the food herself. She took great pride in her small apartment in Forest Hills, Queens. ‘At Christmas,’ said her sister Effie Salloum, ‘ she would decorate her apartment like it was Macy’s windows.’ Fluent in Greek, Ms Achladiotis, 27, traveled to Greece every two years to visit her grandmother, who lives on Crete, and returned home laden with gifts of icons, jewelry, books and cookies. In fact, Ms Achladiotis could scarcely go anywhere without buying presents for her family and friends. ‘If she was out shopping and she found something she liked but they didn’t have it in her size, she would buy it for me,’ her sister said. The week before she died, Ms Achladiotis, who worked for the eSpeed division of Cantor Fitzgerald, had to travel to Las Vegas on business. She invited her parents to accompany her. ‘It was the most beautiful week of my life,’ said her mother Eleni, ‘She was a very loving person.’ ATMs in Metro stations. The National Bank of Greece is opening nine ATMs in Athens Metro stations at 10 p.m. today. These are located at Omonia, Syntagma (two in each), Megaron Mousikis, Sepolia, Panepistimio and Ambelokipi. A further 13 ATMs are planned for installation in the remaining stations.
