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American Morning

Keeping Memories Alive

Aired December 26, 2001 - 08:28   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: When we profile the people killed on September 11, we call it remembering the victims. But how do you remember someone you never knew?

As CNN's Brian Palmer reports, one widow is struggling to keep her husband's memory alive for their unborn child.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KIM STATKEVICUS, WIDOW: Do you want me to get you?

BRIAN PALMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sixteen-month-old, Tyler, is more than a handful for Kim Statkevicus, a young Norwalk, Connecticut mother who is eight months' pregnant with her second child.

Kim's husband, Derek, was with her in the delivery when she gave birth to Tyler. This time, he won't be there. He was in the World Trade Center on September 11. Kim called him for the last time a few minutes before 9:00 a.m.

STATKEVICUS: I did say, Do you see the smoke? And he said, "I can smell it at my desk." And at that point, I got a little nervous.

PALMER: At first, grieving took a backseat to practical matters, like maintaining Tyler's normal routine. But grief caught up with her.

STATKEVICUS: Little things will set me off, but you know, a song or a picture or something will remind me of Derek, and I'll start to cry. And it's hard with Tyler, because you can't really -- you know, he doesn't understand, and he sees me cry sometimes. But I have to keep it together, so at night, a lot of times that's when I'm able to really let go.

PALMER: Letting go means opening herself to the waves of memories of the man she married barely four years ago.

STATKEVICUS: He is very funny. He is smart. He loved being a dad and having the dog, little Squirt, and he really just wanted to provide for his family.

PALMER: Tyler is still too young to realize what has happened. STATKEVICUS: He goes to the bookcase and takes Daddy's picture down and kisses it and carries it around with him. And so he knows -- he knows who his dad is, and he misses him. And I think -- but he doesn't realize -- I mean, if Derek walked through the door tomorrow, Tyler would remember him and run to him.

PALMER: A woman of faith with the support of family, Kim is excited at the prospect of having a second child in spite of her loss.

STATKEVICUS: And I think people feel sorry for me, and I see it as a blessing, because Tyler will not be an only child. He will have a brother.

PALMER: That blessing's name: Derek Chase Statkevicus. The Derek for his father, Chase, a name they chose before her husband died.

Brian Palmer, CNN, Norwalk, Connecticut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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