“So, you can feel the rumble. You can, I mean, it was scary. You knew something was not right in the air,” Madera said.<\/p>\n
The terror and tragedy unfolded. For Madera, life changed in the very next moment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“I wasn’t too far from my working place, and I got to the door, and the door wouldn’t open, and I kind of panicked because I’m outside,” Madera said.<\/p>\n
She had four children and couldn’t control her crying. A gentleman outside the next building waved her over and asked her to sit down.<\/p>\n
“He was a security guard, and he said, ‘Hi, my name is George. Why are you crying?’ And I said to him, ‘My children. I have to get my children, and I don’t know how I’m going to go get them.’ And he was just so kind and said, ‘Well, don’t worry. I guess the goal is to get the children,'” Madera said.<\/p>\n
They started to walk home. There were no subways and no cars.<\/p>\n
“We had to walk all the way back to the Bronx,” Madera said.<\/p>\n
By the time they got the children, George was stranded. She asked him to stay, and he never left.<\/p>\n
A life began on that terrible Tuesday with their moment in Manhattan.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When asked if he knew he was going to marry her, George said he never thought he was going to get married. He’s been there all these years and is now “pops” and “dad”.<\/p>\n
“It feels like family. I love it, man,” George said.<\/p>\n