Soccer Mom: Unplugged

There are tears in my eyes and sadness in my heart as I write today.  I chose to join the online project of memorializing victims of 9/11 and was assigned a name.  Courtney Wainsworth Walcott.  Just a name.  At first, I admit I was a little disappointed.  As an Army wife, I was hoping I'd get to write about someone who died at the Pentagon.  One of those heroic men in uniform that I so admire. But as I began to read tributes, obituaries and recollections written by those who knew Courtney, I was reminded that heros aren't confined to camoflauge and that some of the bravest lives are led in relative anonymity.

As a young man, Courtney was a four year letterman at Hofstra university.  He is described by his coach Mickey Kwiatkowski as "one of the greatest cornerbacks that I have ever had the pleasure to coach."  The tributes to Courtney describe him as busy, kind and nice.  All simple, overused words that fail to describe Courtney's life and character.

In fact, Courtney had no time to waste.  He wasn't busy, he was active.  And the words kind and nice are an abysmal understatement of his selfless dedication to others.  "Even as he climbed the finance world corporate ladder, Walcott stayed active in sports. He helped coach a peewee football camp every summer at Hofstra and he coached a basketball camp in Hackensack, N.J., the town where he was recently living."  37 year old Courtney was divorced and longed to have children of his own.  But he didn't wander through life idly aching for what he didn't have, instead he gave of himself to the children of others.

"Delano Walcott knew about the regular visits his brother made to their parents in Queens and their grandmother in Hempstead. He also knew about the peewee football camp he helped coach at his alma mater, Hofstra, every summer, where he supervised one godson; and the basketball team he coached in Hackensack, where he watched over another.

But as he sat at the memorial service at the Allen A.M.E. Church in Jamaica, Queens, Mr. Walcott learned that every Monday and Friday after work, his brother would drive to the church to be a mentor to teenage boys, counseling them, getting them jobs at Shea Stadium. Then he would drive home to New Jersey. At least 30 boys told the Walcotts how Courtney Walcott ... had graced their lives. The family had had no idea."

Good deeds done in silence.  No medals.  No parades.  Just a life of selfless service.  A kind word offered.  A promise kept.  An example set.  And the people around Courtney had little or no idea.  It is disheartening that Courtney's death, like his life, is virtually anonymous.  When we describe 9/11, we talk about "the World Trade Centers" or "The Twin Towers".  Perhaps we refer to "that Pennsylvania field" or the "Pentagon attack".  No.  This day was so much more.  It was the day that Courtney Wainsworth Walcott died.

He was no victim of of the Trade Center attack.  In fact, there is nothing about Courtney that makes him a victim.  A victim's course is determined by others but Courtney chose his life.  He made deliberate choices that brought career success and landed him in the IQ Financial offices that September morning.  And he made the deliberate choice to reach out to many young men in his community and to make life better for those around him. And that is the life of a hero.

Sources:
Uncovering a Busy Life

One of Hofstra Football's Best

CNN Snapshot