ONE MOTHER’S MEMORIAL: ‘THE BEAUTY OF IT MEANS SOMETHING’
On an outcrop overlooking Vineyard Sound is an “everlasting” memorial to a 9/11 mom.
It’s almost hidden. A plaque is set in stone. A bench is nearby and the view is a glimpse of heaven on Earth. Martha’s Vineyard is so close you can see the windows on the cottages; to the right, the Elizabeth Islands dot the horizon.
It’s all located just around the bend from Woods Hole in Falmouth across the street from Nobska Light.
“The hairs on my arms are standing up,” one visitor said, seeing the “Neilie Point” memorial for the first time a week ago.
“It’s heartbreaking,” said another from New York City.
The memorial is in memory of Neilie Anne Heffernan Casey, who was 32 when she died on Sept. 11, 2001. She was on American Airlines Flight 11 out of Boston heading to Los Angeles when terrorists slammed the jet into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. It was 8:46 a.m.
It was the first of four jets, including United Airlines Flight 175 also out of Logan, hijacked that day by al-Qaeda terrorists. Nearly 3,000 people perished.
Neilie was on a business trip with six other colleagues from TJX, the
Framingham-based clothing chain known for TJ Maxx and Marshall’s.
“Her remains were never found,” Mike Casey of Wellesley said of his late wife. “I was overwhelmed. I had a little baby I had to take care of. But how do I remember her? Nobska was the natural place.”
That’s where he proposed to Neilie on the nearby beach named after the lighthouse. She said yes.
“It was a perfect place for a perfect purpose, so that’s what I went with,” Casey told the Herald. “It’s everlasting. That was the intent.”
But the heartache never goes away, he said.
“I had to learn to live again. Neilie was such an amazing person. We were at this great spot in life and she had a great job at TJX and was heading to LA to scout the (clothing) market. That’s why she was on Flight 11,” he said. “We were on top of the world and then it all stopped.”
The couple “hugged and kissed” that early morning and woke the baby — Riley was just 6 months old — as Neilie headed off to Logan. The fact they said goodbye has helped Mike Casey carry on, he said, because what came next still brings back tears.
“It was instant shock,” when he realized early her jet hit the Twin Tower. “Everything moved in slow motion. I took life minutes at a time. But Riley was my shining light. She re-set me every day.”
He made it his mission to leave a memory of Neilie etched in steel and stone so nobody ever forgets. Thousands of runners pass by it every year during the Falmouth Road Race and many more find it on their own.
Former U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, especially his aide Steve Kerrigan, secured a patch of land from the Coast Guard so “Neilie Point” could stay forever. Dick and Betty Baker, of Baker Monument Co. in Falmouth, created the plaque.
Falmouth landscaper Joe Marshall keeps it looking beautiful.
“A lot of people discover it and love it. Weddings. Proposals. They keep happening there to this day,” Marshall said. “The beauty of it means something.”
Today, he’ll add American flags to the plot along with vivid flowers so all eyes turn
to what Mike and Riley left behind.
“We miss you so much,” the plaque reads, in part. “We promise to keep your spirit, laugh and smile alive.” A poem, in the likeness of refrigerator magnets, honors the “diamond moment” Mike proposed to his rubyhaired Neilie.
“This is a special place, but it’s also a gift to others who discover it,” he said. “It’s there to reflect upon. Reflect upon yourself and to smile. It’s a wonderful spot.”
Mike admitted he worried he could never love again. “You can,” he added. “It’s OK. It’s not moving on, but moving forward.”
He married Channel 4 anchor Lisa Hughes and they’ve added 10-year-old Dylan to the family.
“Lisa is an important part of my survival,” Mike said. “I had to learn to live again.”