TERROR'S TOLL FAMILY FACING LIFE WITHOUT SON KILLED IN ATTACKS.Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer GLENDALE - As the head of a close-knit family that always relished the holidays, Dr. Carlton Valvo of Glendale dreads dreads pl.n. Informal Dreadlocks. the coming of Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. His 38-year-old son and namesake, Carlton Valvo II, was among the more than 5,000 people killed during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The younger Valvo was a Glendale native who grew up to become an executive at Cantor Fitzgerald Cantor Fitzgerald L.P. is a global financial services firm specializing in bond trading, as well as investment banking, asset management, market data and brokerage services. , the bond trading conglomerate that lost some 700 employees when a hijacked jetliner crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. ``It's a real empty feeling,'' Dr. Valvo said. ``The holidays are going to be a very difficult time.'' Valvo and his wife, Coletta, last heard from their elder son on Sept. 10, when he called them in Lake Tahoe to congratulate them on their 41st wedding anniversary. The next day, the Valvos got a call from their younger son, who had reached brother Carlton on his cell phone at his office after hearing about the attacks. ``Brandon said that all Carlton was able to say was, `The room is filling up with smoke. I'm not sure we can survive,' before the phone was disconnected,'' Valvo recalled. With all U.S. airplanes grounded, the Valvos drove to Vancouver, British Columbia, caught a plane to Toronto, then drove to New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. - unable to think of anything but the televised images of the devastation and their sons' phone call. ``I was thinking about what Brandon told me about the call - about the smoke,'' said Valvo, who has been a urologist Urologist A physician who deals with the study and treatment of disorders of the urinary tract in women and the urogenital system in men. Mentioned in: Congenital Bladder Anomalies, Lithotripsy, Men's Health, Overactive Bladder urologist in Glendale for more than three decades. ``I was thinking about smoke inhalation Smoke Inhalation Definition Smoke inhalation is breathing in the harmful gases, vapors, and particulate matter contained in smoke. Description Smoke inhalation typically occurs in victims or firefighters caught in structural fires. .'' Carlton and Coletta joined the thousands of other victims' relatives on the streets of New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , visiting hospitals and makeshift shelters in the hope of hearing that their son had somehow survived. ``We were hoping he was one of the unidentified,'' he said. A graduate of Northwestern University, the younger Carlton had worked at the Chicago Board of Trade Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) The second largest futures exchange in the US, and a pioneer in the development of financial futures and options. and the New York Mercantile Exchange New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) The world's largest physical commodity futures exchange. , joining Cantor Fitzgerald about a year ago. As vice president of international bond trading, he had an office on the 105th floor of One World Trade Center, the first tower to be hit by the hijackers. He achieved professional success after growing up in Glendale, where he was a strong student and standout athlete Flintridge Preparatory School Flintridge Preparatory School, familiarily known as Prep, is a nonprofit, independent college preparatory day school for grades 7-12. Founded in 1933, it is located within the city limits of La Canada Flintridge, California, at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. and St. Francis High School in La Canada Flintridge. ``He was quite a good athlete and a hustler. He was always trying hard to score runs and was quite a team player,'' said former Glendale Mayor Larry Zarian, whose son, Vincent, played baseball with the younger Carlton. ``But, what struck me most about the Valvos is how close-knit they were. The mom and dad always came and wanted to be present at those games. Those are images that I remember.'' Dr. Valvo also recalled his son's sense of humor Noun 1. sense of humor - the trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous; "she didn't appreciate my humor"; "you can't survive in the army without a sense of humor" sense of humour, humor, humour , charm and people skills - attributes that live on in the younger Carlton's 7-year-old daughter, Dante. ``She shares his love for baseball, and is on a T-ball team now, just like Carlton was,'' Valvo said, recalling that his son took Dante to Green Bay Packers games, tennis matches and baseball games at Yankee Stadium. ``She is so much like him that (wife) Lori would always say, 'I don't see me in her at all,'' Valvo said. The family has been trying to cope with the loss, attending a memorial service last Sunday in New York City, where they received a small container of soil collected from the World Trade Center site. They also will attend a Nov. 10 memorial service in New York City, planned by Lori and Dante. ``We're taking it one day at a time One Day at a Time is a long-running American situation comedy that portrayed a divorced mother, played by Bonnie Franklin, her two teenage daughters (Mackenzie Phillips and Valerie Bertinelli) and their building superintendent (Pat Harrington, Jr.). ,'' Valvo said. ``The first-born is special to parents.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: World Trade Center victim Carlton Valvo II, formerly of Glendale, with his wife Lori and their daughter, Dante. 7. |
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