STEVE DUNLEAVY
NY Post Online
IT WAS a marriage made in Brooklyn.
"I was 9 years old, one of eight children, and my brother Raymond brought him home," Jean Palombo said.
"He was 14, and I had a crush on him. When I was 18, he asked me out on a date.
"We were at a diner called Cuzins, and when he took me home, he asked me if he could kiss me.
"I said yes, and he kissed me, and I floated upstairs."
Jean Palombo, now 41, translated that kiss into 10 children, ages 11 months to 15 years, fathered by hero firefighter Frank Palombo, 46.
Marriage was beautiful, his brother firefighters were beautiful, the barbecues were beautiful.
He fought the dancing monster called fire. They went to funerals they never talked about.
"You know this wonderful, brave man didn't come on tough. He was like all firefighters: very careful, very professional," Jean said.
Sept. 11 took away the loving father of those eight boys and two girls.
When Jean told the kids that Daddy wasn't coming home, 12-year-old Joey spoke up.
"I would like to see the smile on his face when I make him proud," Joey said.
"That was tough," said Jean.
Jean came to terms last Tuesday with the fact the man who looked after her and their 10 children was gone.
"Of course, we cry. We laugh, we cry. There is nothing wrong with grieving," she said.
Osama bin Laden talks about wreaking his revenge on New York and Christians and Jews.
As the bombs of the righteous drop over Afghanistan, Jean wants nothing to do with the havoc of politics.
"If that had been a New York mosque burning and there were Taliban members inside, he and his brothers would have gone in and risked their lives," Jean said.
"They were not into politics - they were into saving lives. Frank would have said, ‘It's an honor to love your enemies.' "
Bombs drop on evil - but goodness lives on in Brooklyn, as Jean, with the help of Ladder Co. 105, cooks dinner for 10 hungry mouths.
Those 10 kids are sons and daughters of a true American hero. What else can I say? What else can anyone say?
God bless America, and God bless Brooklyn.
Related:
