Family members offer prayers during a memorial service for Jupiter Yambem, shown in the photo, at his ancestral home in Imphal, Manipur on Sunday, September 11. (AP Photo)
New York, September 11 (First Post): Born and raised in Imphal in Manipur, Jupiter Yambem, 47 lived the immigrant’s dream in America. At the top of his class in SUNY New Paltz, he was snapped up by some of New York City’s most famous restaurants, including the Rainbow Room and then Windows on the World, where he worked as a banquet manager. He thrived on the energy of New York and adored his curly auburn-haired American wife from Syracuse who he met in college in the early eighties and their son.
Jupiter Yambem’s wife, Nancy McCardle Yambem, remembers frantically calling her husband on September 11. He never answered. Everyone in the Windows of the World restaurant on the 107th floor of the World Trade Center survived the impact when American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower at 8:46 am, but died when the tower collapsed after burning for 102 minutes.
On the 10-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks, Yambem and her son Santi whose name is pronounced Shanti, like others who lost family on September 11, 2001 carry the heavy legacy of that day. “It has been ten years and we miss Jupiter. We will always miss him. He was amazing. We have a small Hindu shrine in our house to Jupiter,” said Yambem whose house is cluttered with photos of her college sweetheart.
Jupiter came to America at the age of 21 from India to work in a summer camp with children with visual impairment. After he got done with the camp he decided to stay on in America and went to college at the State University of New York at New Paltz. “We met in college in 1981 and hung out with the same crowd. We started seeing each other in 1984 as a couple. We married in 1991 so I knew him — know him — for 20 years,” said Yambem still finding it painful to use the past tense.
For those kids who lost a parent on 9/11, fitting in and getting back to life as usual is an ongoing process. Jupiter was a hands-on dad and signed on as assistant coach for his five-year-old son’s soccer team. “Santi is trying to be as normal a kid as he can. He is in the 10th Grade now. He was in kindergarten when his father died. His life has changed greatly from being a five-year-old to a teen,” said Yambem about her tall boy who plays rock guitar and trumpet in the school band.
Santi was traumatized by his father’s death and had trouble sleeping after the 9/11 tragedy. Jupiter called his son Chinglailakba or dragon tamer in Manipuri. Not someone who fights dragons, Yambem explains, but someone who tames them. “Jupiter used to call Santi Chingalai or Paki Chingalai, kind of Papa’s dragon tamer,” said Yambem, who has kept Santi close to his Indian roots. “We have a home in Manipur. We go every two years. Santi has been since he was a year old. He is very familiar with Manipuri culture and his family back home. It is basically our second home.”
Jupiter held fast to his Indian roots. Keeping his Indian citizenship, he co-founded the North American Manipur Association (NAMA), consisting of a small group of Manipuri families that sought to promote and preserve their culture. NAMA has since expanded into a network of 40 Manipuri families and supports causes in Manipur. “We started NAMA with the idea of getting Manipuri families together once a year over the long Fourth of July weekend to eat Manipuri food, teach the kids Manipuri dance and have them perform. It has evolved over the years and supports Manipuri causes,” said Yambem who went to the NAMA convention this year in Edison, New Jersey with her son Santi and current husband.
Yambem has moved on in many ways. She’s in a new home and has remarried but says she is seldom separated from the constant reminders of the 9/11 tragedy. “Being a 9/11 family is kind of constant. You are brought back to it because it is always on the news, or on TV. In a normal death situation you usually get a break from the death, but in our lives you kind of see it almost every day. If you have a day where there is nothing related then all of a sudden you spot a bumper sticker on a car that says ‘Never Forget’. You see a picture of the Twin Towers and you are brought right back to it,” said Yambem.
Jupiter Yambem’s wife, Nancy McCardle Yambem, remembers frantically calling her husband on September 11. He never answered. Everyone in the Windows of the World restaurant on the 107th floor of the World Trade Center survived the impact when American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower at 8:46 am, but died when the tower collapsed after burning for 102 minutes.
On the 10-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks, Yambem and her son Santi whose name is pronounced Shanti, like others who lost family on September 11, 2001 carry the heavy legacy of that day. “It has been ten years and we miss Jupiter. We will always miss him. He was amazing. We have a small Hindu shrine in our house to Jupiter,” said Yambem whose house is cluttered with photos of her college sweetheart.
Jupiter came to America at the age of 21 from India to work in a summer camp with children with visual impairment. After he got done with the camp he decided to stay on in America and went to college at the State University of New York at New Paltz. “We met in college in 1981 and hung out with the same crowd. We started seeing each other in 1984 as a couple. We married in 1991 so I knew him — know him — for 20 years,” said Yambem still finding it painful to use the past tense.
For those kids who lost a parent on 9/11, fitting in and getting back to life as usual is an ongoing process. Jupiter was a hands-on dad and signed on as assistant coach for his five-year-old son’s soccer team. “Santi is trying to be as normal a kid as he can. He is in the 10th Grade now. He was in kindergarten when his father died. His life has changed greatly from being a five-year-old to a teen,” said Yambem about her tall boy who plays rock guitar and trumpet in the school band.
Santi was traumatized by his father’s death and had trouble sleeping after the 9/11 tragedy. Jupiter called his son Chinglailakba or dragon tamer in Manipuri. Not someone who fights dragons, Yambem explains, but someone who tames them. “Jupiter used to call Santi Chingalai or Paki Chingalai, kind of Papa’s dragon tamer,” said Yambem, who has kept Santi close to his Indian roots. “We have a home in Manipur. We go every two years. Santi has been since he was a year old. He is very familiar with Manipuri culture and his family back home. It is basically our second home.”
Jupiter held fast to his Indian roots. Keeping his Indian citizenship, he co-founded the North American Manipur Association (NAMA), consisting of a small group of Manipuri families that sought to promote and preserve their culture. NAMA has since expanded into a network of 40 Manipuri families and supports causes in Manipur. “We started NAMA with the idea of getting Manipuri families together once a year over the long Fourth of July weekend to eat Manipuri food, teach the kids Manipuri dance and have them perform. It has evolved over the years and supports Manipuri causes,” said Yambem who went to the NAMA convention this year in Edison, New Jersey with her son Santi and current husband.
Yambem has moved on in many ways. She’s in a new home and has remarried but says she is seldom separated from the constant reminders of the 9/11 tragedy. “Being a 9/11 family is kind of constant. You are brought back to it because it is always on the news, or on TV. In a normal death situation you usually get a break from the death, but in our lives you kind of see it almost every day. If you have a day where there is nothing related then all of a sudden you spot a bumper sticker on a car that says ‘Never Forget’. You see a picture of the Twin Towers and you are brought right back to it,” said Yambem.
