{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/9k45q4st1h/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Gina Pinos Oral History"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eClip 1:\u003c/strong\u003e Gina Pinos recalls how James Nicholas Pappageorge proposed to her with the help of her son, Justin.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePhoto: Gina Pinos with her fiancé, James Nicholas Pappageorge, and her son, Justin Benitez, circa 1998. Courtesy of Gina Pinos.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eGina Pinos was the fiancée of James Nicholas Pappageorge (also known as Jimmy Pappageorge), an FDNY firefighter who perished at the World Trade Center responding to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Gina recalls how she and James met at a gym in Queens where James worked as a personal trainer, explaining that James admired her from afar for approximately one year before speaking with her. Gina recalls their first date and their growing love for each other, then James' sudden absence for several months to become an emergency medical technician (EMT), during which Gina began dating another man and became pregnant. Gina explains that when James reconnected with her and learned of her pregnancy, he promised \"to love you and your baby forever and we're going to be one family.\"\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eGina describes James as extremely mature and grounded despite only being in his twenties; she remembers James as a sweet, caring, and low-key person who was perfectly content with spending time at home with Gina and her young son Justin. In July 2001, James became a firefighter and joined FDNY Engine Company 23 in Midtown Manhattan. Gina recalls briefly speaking with James via telephone on the morning of September 11, 2001 moments before James departed from his firehouse to the World Trade Center. Gina describes her subsequent visits to Lower Manhattan to search for James and learning in late 2001 that James' human remains had been recovered. Gina also discusses James' childhood growing up in Jackson Heights and the renaming of 98th Street and 38th Avenue in Jackson Heights as Firefighter James Pappageorge Way.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eGina Pinos' son, Justin Benitez, also recorded an oral history about James Nicholas Pappageorge. For that interview, visit \u003ca href=\"../../../r/5t3fx75302\"\u003ehttps://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/r/5t3fx75302\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo learn more about James Nicholas Pappageorge's shoes, visit \u003ca href=\"https://collection.911memorial.org/Detail/objects/120387\"\u003ehttps://collection.911memorial.org/Detail/objects/120387\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo learn more about James Nicholas Pappageorge's handheld computer, visit \u003ca href=\"https://collection.911memorial.org/Detail/objects/120409\"\u003ehttps://collection.911memorial.org/Detail/objects/120409\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e (supplement)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source Metadata URI"]},"value":{"en":["http://digitalarchives.queenslibrary.org/search/browse/40532"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2023-04-25 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["Audio"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Gina Pinos (Interviewee)","Áine Pennello (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source"]},"value":{"en":["Interview conducted as part of Queens Street Name Stories, a collaboration between the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY's NYCity News Service, and the Queens Memory Project."]}},{"label":{"en":["Coverage"]},"value":{"en":["1990s-2023 (temporal)","Midtown and World Trade Center, Manhattan, NY; Yonkers, NY; Flushing, Fresh Meadows, and Jackson Heights, Queens, NY (spatial)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eClip 1:\u003c/strong\u003e Gina Pinos recalls how James Nicholas Pappageorge proposed to her with the help of her son, Justin.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePhoto: Gina Pinos with her fianc\u0026eacute;, James Nicholas Pappageorge, and her son, Justin Benitez, circa 1998. Courtesy of Gina Pinos.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eGina Pinos was the fianc\u0026eacute;e of James Nicholas Pappageorge (also known as Jimmy Pappageorge), an FDNY firefighter who perished at the World Trade Center responding to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Gina recalls how she and James met at a gym in Queens where James worked as a personal trainer, explaining that James admired her from afar for approximately one year before speaking with her. Gina recalls their first date and their growing love for each other, then James' sudden absence for several months to become an emergency medical technician (EMT), during which Gina began dating another man and became pregnant. Gina explains that when James reconnected with her and learned of her pregnancy, he promised \"to love you and your baby forever and we're going to be one family.\"\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eGina describes James as extremely mature and grounded despite only being in his twenties; she remembers James as a sweet, caring, and low-key person who was perfectly content with spending time at home with Gina and her young son Justin. In July 2001, James became a firefighter and joined FDNY Engine Company 23 in Midtown Manhattan. Gina recalls briefly speaking with James via telephone on the morning of September 11, 2001 moments before James departed from his firehouse to the World Trade Center. Gina describes her subsequent visits to Lower Manhattan to search for James and learning in late 2001 that James' human remains had been recovered. Gina also discusses James' childhood growing up in Jackson Heights and the renaming of 98th Street and 38th Avenue in Jackson Heights as Firefighter James Pappageorge Way.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eGina Pinos' son, Justin Benitez, also recorded an oral history about James Nicholas Pappageorge. For that interview, visit \u003ca href=\"../../../r/5t3fx75302\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003ehttps://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/r/5t3fx75302\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo learn more about James Nicholas Pappageorge's shoes, visit \u003ca href=\"https://collection.911memorial.org/Detail/objects/120387\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003ehttps://collection.911memorial.org/Detail/objects/120387\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo learn more about James Nicholas Pappageorge's handheld computer, visit \u003ca href=\"https://collection.911memorial.org/Detail/objects/120409\"\u003ehttps://collection.911memorial.org/Detail/objects/120409\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/249/791/small/DSC01507.JPG?1725025960","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/249791","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 2 - pinos_gina_20230425_clip1.mp3"]},"duration":191.32082,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/249/791/small/DSC01507.JPG?1725025960","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/249791/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/249791/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-queenslibrary.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/249/791/original/pinos_gina_20230425_clip1.mp3?1725025653","type":"Audio","format":"audio/mpeg","duration":191.32082,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/249791","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[]},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 2 of 2 - Oral_history_Gina_Pinos.mp3"]},"duration":3197.80571,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/197/418/small/DSC01513.JPG?1689265131","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/content/2/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-queenslibrary.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/197/418/original/Oral_history_Gina_Pinos.mp3?1689265044","type":"Audio","format":"audio/mpeg","duration":3197.80571,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Full Transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: This is Áine Pennello. Today is April 25th, 2023. I am interviewing Gina Pinos for the first time. This interview is taking place at Gina's home on Long Island. This interview is part of the Queens Memory Project. So tell me your name and how you knew Jimmy.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=0.0,18.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: My name is Gina Pinos and Jimmy was my fiance, and we lived together for a few years. Right before 9/11.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=18.0,29.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: Tell me how you and Jimmy met.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=29.0,33.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: So I used to go to the gym back when I was in college. I used to go to Bally's Jack LaLanne in Forest Hills. No, it wasn't Forest Hills, it was, I forgot the area. Right off the 495. We can come back to that. So I used to go to Bally's Jack LaLanne in Queens, and it was just part of my routine. And then there was this cute trainer that was there, but I never really paid too much attention. I didn't have too much time. I was going to college, working two jobs, and I was getting myself to the gym later in the day. So I was just tired just going in and doing my thing and leaving. And then that's where we met. But I came to find out years later that he had been admiring me from a distance for a year or more, and he came to find out what my routine was like, what day I would come in, what time I would come in, and he would ask the people there to switch with him.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=33.0,116.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: So he would have that shift so that when I walked in, he was there at the front desk and that's how he got to know who I was because I would swipe and my information would pop up. So he knew who I was long before I knew who he was. So as far as I knew, now he's speaking to me, but he had been trying to speak to me for a year or so before, and I never really paid attention. So he had asked me one day if I needed help utilizing one of the machines. So that's how we started chatting.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=116.0,153.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: Wow. So this guy had a crush on you for a whole year, year and a half.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=153.0,158.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: Yeah. Yep. So I think when our first date was actually, I just turned 21 and he was still 20. So I'm January birthday, he's March. So the first date that we had, it was basically our 21st year. So I guess he had been looking out for me since we were both 19, 20 maybe. Something like that. Yeah. So long time.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=158.0,188.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: Tell me what you have here.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=188.0,193.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: I still have the card that he gave me the first time that he introduced himself to me. So this is his card from Bally's Jack LaLanne in Fresh Meadows, and it has his number on the back, his home number, and then his cell number, his pager, because back then we had pagers. So one-on-one, James Pappageorge, personal trainer, it says here on the card, and I kept it. So all these years later, this is when we were probably about 20, 19, 20 years old. So that's his card.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=193.0,234.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: Do you remember him giving you this card?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=234.0,237.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: I remember him walking up to me because again, I'm the type of person that I'm just so clueless when it comes to dating and all that stuff. I don't pay attention, whatever, I just carry on about my day. But when he finally probably, I guess introduced himself to me or walked up to me, my eyes kind of just opened up. He was somebody that definitely caught my eye. Once he came into my vision, he was also kind of shy, I guess. He was not the type of loud kind of a person. So he was pretty reserved, I think. But yeah, he was really cute when I first met him.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=237.0,280.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: Tell me how you two started dating.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=280.0,285.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: A couple of times it took of him trying to show me the machines at the gym, showing me what to do and how to work out and whatever. And so we just started chatting. And then one day he just asked me out, he's like, oh, do you want to go get something to eat? And I said, sure, why not? Okay. But what I remember is that at the time, he didn't have a car, so he fessed up to that and he was like, we can go get some food, but I don't have a car right now. So I was like, okay, that's no problem. He's like, do you mind taking the bus? And I'm like, that's okay. But it was also the city, so everybody took mass transit for the most part, so I didn't really mind it. So I remember going to eat in Flushing at this Chinese restaurant he took me to.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=285.0,340.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: It was a really a nicer Chinese restaurant, a little bit more formal. So I was a little bit impressed by that because again, we were young, we were 20 years old, 21 our first date. So it seemed like a little bit more of a step up than some regular spot to eat for a first date. And then we took the bus there. He picked me up from where I lived in Flushing, and we took the bus and then we rode back. And then on the ride back, it struck me how sweet he was because he kind of put his head down on, he nuzzled into my shoulder, and he was a big guy. He was like six foot tall, kind of stocky. He trained a lot. So the way he did it, it was just such a very sweet way about it that kind of melted my heart. So he was very sincere. He didn't really care that he had to take the bus. So all those things kind of got my attention more so than how cute he was because he really was. So that definitely captured me.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=340.0,413.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: Tell me more about that moment in the bus, like it's a scene in a movie.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=413.0,418.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: So it was later in the evening, probably nighttime, and I think we were one of the very few people that were on the bus, and I think he was maybe kind of tired. He enjoyed sleeping, so he was a good napper. So like I said, he just, out of nowhere, he just nuzzled his head into my shoulder and he grabbed my hand, and I just found that to be so sweet. So it was very sweet. So we kind of rode home. It wasn't a long distance, but it was just very nice that somebody was able to get to that point. I guess it was just very sweet the way he did it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=418.0,463.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: I can imagine also the sort of, okay, this person definitely likes me. The sort of excitement—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=463.0,470.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: Right. Absolutely. And for as big as a person as he was physically, it just showed how much of a gentle giant he was. And it definitely showed that he did like me. So that was a good thing. And then later on, like I said, when I found out that he had been admiring me from afar, I thought that was just so adorable for a year that he wasn't able to come up to me and talk to me.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=470.0,498.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: Looking back, do you remember, oh yeah, he tried to talk to me at this moment, in this moment, and I just didn't realize.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=498.0,507.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: No, [laughs] no, I didn't. Again, I had limited time. I was always just on the go, and I guess it just didn't register. Actually, now that I remember, my girlfriend pointed it out to me that she had spoken to me about it. Like, oh, look, that guy is checking you out. And I just didn't pay any mind. So that's my girlfriend from college. We used to go together to the gym.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=507.0,538.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: Tell me, well, I guess maybe describe him for me.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=538.0,544.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: So he was, again, very, very sweet, very caring. He was so mellow. So we were kind of opposites because I've always been very high energy, and he was very low key, laid back. He was so content to just kind of be home, come home, snuggle on the couch, watch tv, have time together in the house, eating, just hanging out with Justin and I. And that was what made him happy. He didn't need to go out and do a million things. So he had that way about him. He was just very content. So that was something that was unique, I guess, because at the time when we met, he was young, and when 9/11 happened, he was 29. By the time we were 26 or so, we were kind of living together and that whole family life to young people, the way we were young at that time.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=544.0,616.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: And with a child, my son, my Justin, most kids that age just want to go out and party. My job, my career, I was in marketing. I was worked in publishing, I did event planning, branding. I traveled for work. I was on a plane having to go to events or do things for work, and he was fine. He was like, go do what you got to do. I'll stay home with Justin. And he was fine with that. So it worked out nicely. But I always kind of felt bad. I was like, do you want to do something? Do you want to go? And he's like, no, I'm good. So that's kind of the way things were. We enjoyed each other's company no matter what. So we were kind of opposites. But at the same time, I feel like down deep inside, we definitely had the same foundations. And as far as raising a family and what we wanted out of our future together.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=616.0,682.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: Tell me, take me from the moment to the Chinese restaurant, the bus ride. Tell me how you two ended up together.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=682.0,693.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: So we dated initially, we went on a few more dates. It led into the summertime, and we were completely head over heels for each other by the time summer came around. And we were kind of inseparable. He was always coming around, or we would always go out and sitting at the park, going to the beach, just doing mellow stuff. And we always were on the phone talking to each other. So we were kind of inseparable for a summertime. And then all of a sudden when the fall came around, he kind of completely disappeared. And that broke my heart before we started getting more serious. Before I knew he existed at the gym, I had been dating someone. And that kind of subsided because I ended up meeting Jimmy. So fast forward, the fall came around, he disappears completely. I have no idea what happened. I thought everything was just awesome.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=693.0,762.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: And then he disappeared. And then moving ahead to the wintertime, friends where I lived, kind of tried to keep getting myself and this other person who I was dating back together, and he was kind of a household kind of friend of my roommates that I had. So he was always kind of there, and we ended up sort of getting back together. Anyway, it was March Madness. I remember that we had the basketball game on, and then there comes a knock at the door. So I lived on the second floor. So I look out the window to see who it was before I answered the door, and it was Jimmy. So I'm overwhelmed and so confused and kind of mad because out of nowhere, again, this is now March, he shows up and he's wearing something that I don't recognize. He's not in normal clothes, he's wearing a uniform, which I don't know what uniform it is.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=762.0,822.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: So I was like, well, I can't talk to you right now. I have company. And I just didn't give him the time of day. I was really upset, happy, but upset, and I was like, I don't want to talk to him. I can't just jump into his arms. So the next day I call him and I'm like, where have you been? So he confessed to me that he said that he fell in love and he was scared because I had recently graduated college and he felt that I had everything together. I was well underway into my career now, I had a good job, and he got scared off by that and by me, and he felt like he had nothing to offer me. So he took this time during the fall and the winter, he had gone to EMS school because he felt like he wanted to be with me and move forward with me, but he was nothing but a personal trainer at the gym.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=822.0,890.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: So he went to school and he came back with his uniform on intentionally to show me that he was now an EMT, that he did something with himself. And then now he was ready to move on with me in the meantime, I mean, that was so amazing to hear. But now here I am with this other person, not really serious, but kind of now involved, months have gone by. And so I didn't know what to do with that. So a few weeks went by, I hung up the phone. I was like, I told him how I felt. A few weeks went by and I decided, you know what? He's the person that I love and I want to be with him. So I called him back and that's how we got back together. So at that time, I think I was about 23. We were both about 23, give or take. We dated for about a year and a half, two years, something like that. So we got back together.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=890.0,958.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: Wow. Do you ever wonder why he didn't explain how he felt and the absence before the absence happened or while the absence was happening?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=958.0,971.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: Say that again.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=971.0,973.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: Did you ever wonder why he came back and said, this is what happened? Do you ever wonder, this is what I was feeling. I felt like you had everything going on. I, I wanted to make something of myself. Do you ever wonder why he didn't tell you that sooner?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=973.0,991.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: No. I guess he just explained it and I took it face value that he got scared of his feelings. He said he fell in love with me and that he was scared that he wasn't enough for me. So he just kind of went off and studied and did something, which is wonderful. But I really did wish he wouldn't have disappeared that way because it kind of led to another set of consequences or a fork in the road. So because of that time lapse and my having gotten back together with that previous person, which he was a nice person, but then by the time Jimmy came back into my life, it kind of was not the right time because by that time I was pregnant with Justin. So it was that fork in the road. Had that not happened then, but again, I have my son, my Justin, who is an amazing person, but he kind of realized, he very much recognized that that was the situation.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=991.0,1066.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: So he actually apologized to me and he says, it was completely my fault. And to which I was like, that's great, but this is what's going on right now. You're young. You have your whole life ahead of you. This can't be, and he refused. He flat out refused. He was like, no, I fell in love with you and I'm going to love you. And this is what I always remember him saying. He says, I fell in love with you and I'm going to love you and your baby forever, and we're going to be one family. And to me, that was just mind blowing that somebody, again, that young was so centered and so committed and so mature and so ready to take on unafraid all of this responsibility and do it all for his feelings. I mean, how could I say no to that? So we did. We got together and the rest is kind of history. He was in my life from that moment on. So we definitely just were head over heels with each other. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1066.0,1154.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: Wow. It sounds like he was a very different person when he came back in his EMT outfit.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1154.0,1162.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: Yeah, he was kind of ready. He was ready to take me on and just make a future together. And honestly, he never, ever, there was never an ounce of doubt that I saw on his part. It was always us, always us, us, us, us. So again, fast forward to 9/11, right thereafter, people came up to me and said they did not realize that Justin wasn't his, because he never said Gina's son or my fiance's son, my girlfriend's son. He never ever said that to anyone. He always said, that's my boy to everyone. So people just automatically assumed that that was his son. So that also blew my mind the first time I heard that was [shows emotion] at the mass funeral that we ended up having in December, 2001. So again, it just showed how deeply in love, rooted, committed, mature he was at such a young age. So that's one of the things that I'll always remember about him, how grounded he was very, very grounded.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1162.0,1251.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: And remind me, how young was he and what timeframe was this?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1251.0,1256.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: So 9/11 happened, we were 29. Yeah, we were really young. He had just graduated the fire academy July 23rd, 2001. And then, what is that, six weeks, eight weeks afterwards? Yeah. So he wasn't a fireman for that long. He was an EMT and a paramedic for quite some time since about 23 to 29. He went into the academy January, graduated July. So he was just again, very mature and grounded, even though he was so young, he had the soul of a much wiser older person. [sighs]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1256.0,1312.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: And did that match the initial impression you had of him, or was it a little bit different?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1312.0,1318.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: I think it did match, because again, on the outside he looked a certain way. He looked like a big brawny, muscular, hunky, cute, adorable guy. But on the inside he wasn't that. Usually those kinds of people are narcissistic more into themselves, selfish. He was none of that. So his exterior did not match his soul at all.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1318.0,1350.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: What did people say when you introduced him to your friends, your family members, roommates? What did people say about him?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1350.0,1358.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: He had that kind of presence, I guess, that was very endearing. So there wasn't anybody that ever said, I don't like him. He was very, like I said, very mellow, quiet. So yeah, everybody got along with him.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1358.0,1383.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: Tell me about how you two got engaged.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1383.0,1385.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: Oh, so I came home and like I mentioned, I was usually, well, I was always in Manhattan working, and I would come home later, six, seven, not too late. And then by the time I got home, he was usually there, depending on his work schedule, of course, and he was hanging out with Justin. So it was regular weekday day. We were in the kitchen. We were all trying to get some food on the table. Justin and him were paling around trying to get stuff ready. And then he asks me to go and get something from the freezer. So I go, I get whatever he asked for, and I close the freezer and I come back around and he's like, no, you didn't find it. And I'm like, what are you talking about? This is what you wanted. So he's like, no, go back in. Look on the left side and you'll find it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1385.0,1449.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: What did he ask you to look for?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1449.0,1450.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: Something from the freezer, probably meat or something, but it wasn't food. So I went back in, he's like, look to the left. You're getting closer. And then when I finally looked, it was a little bit further back. It was an engagement ring in the box. And then when I go and I close the freezer door, he's standing right behind the freezer door holding Justin. And the two of them, I guess he rehearsed with Justin, both of them at the same time, said, will you marry us? [shows emotion] And it wasn't fancy. It wasn't like something out of a Hawaiian proposal or anything like that and Waikiki, but it was just the fact that it was all about us. The whole thing was about the three of us. It wasn't will you marry me? And Justin was going to be to the side. So it meant the world to me, obviously, because we were all one, and he was such a giving unconditionally loving person. And there are people like that. They don't exist anymore in this world. Somebody that can love you like that, and your child as their own. [pause] Sorry. So that's how he proposed. Both of them said, will you marry us? And they were both wearing matching FDNY baseball hats and T-shirts [laughs]. They're like Fruit of the Loom shorts [laughs] in the kitchen, in the apartment where we lived in Yonkers.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1450.0,1579.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: That's very sweet.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1579.0,1580.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1580.0,1581.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: What year was that?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1581.0,1583.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: 1999. 99 or 2000? I think it was 2000. Yeah, it was 2000 because we gave each other a couple of years to plan the wedding, and we actually had a deposit was given at the Crest Hollow in Long Island, but we got engaged in 2000, and he of course wanted to pick 9/11, or we did pick 9/11, I think as the wedding date because he was such a, what they call a buff, and he just loved everything to do with rescue and saving people and EMS and all that stuff. So we had a date picked for 2022 [2002, corrected by transcript editor]. So we were engaged during 9/11, but not married, not recognized by the state of New York as a married couple, even though we were living together. So that was a hard pill to swallow after everything happened, because afterwards I didn't, according to paper, I didn't exist. Neither did my son. So that was really hard. I had to prove who I was and who Justin was to him and who we were to each other, because there's no common law marriage in the state of New York. So that was really enraging, but yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1583.0,1688.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: And you had to prove that to the state of New York?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1688.0,1692.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/51","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: Yeah. So when things happened and communication came out, it was always to the next of kin. And initially it kind of started to come to me because we lived together. His residence was Yonkers where we lived together, but eventually, whoever the powers that be realized that I was not his next of kin, so everything switched to come through to his family. So it was a sensitive topic, really sensitive topic.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1692.0,1731.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/52","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: Do you want to talk about what happened on 9/11?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1731.0,1735.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/53","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: So that morning, actually, the night before, I'm going to start with the night before I had come home from work. The three of us were at home probably eating dinner, watching a movie, hanging out on the couch, whatever. But I had come home that day, really excited because I thought that I was pregnant. So before I came home, I stopped at the pharmacy and I bought one of the two pack of one pregnancy tests, and I came home. So as soon as I got home, while they were doing whatever they were doing at home, I had taken one of them and one of them showed that I was pregnant, and I'm super happy and excited, and I'm like, is this true? You know, you're always like, is it really true? Is it a false negative, a false positive, whatever they call it. So I knew I had the second one.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1735.0,1800.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/54","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: I was like, all right, I'm going to keep it to myself until the morning. I'll take the second one in the morning, and then for sure, then I'll know, and then I could tell 'em tomorrow when we get home. So we go to bed, wake up in the morning. The routine is he was going to the firehouse. He had to leave earlier because he had to get there for 7:00 AM and we both woke up around the same time. I had to get Justin ready to drop him off at school and get myself ready to go to work. I was going to catch the railroad. He left earlier. He drove off, but he left before me. So last we saw each other was that morning when we got up getting ready, kissed each other, goodbye. He left. I took the test. After he left, Justin was running around. I took the test and it confirmed I was pregnant. So I was so happy because again, the whole reason why he became a fireman was because he wanted to have more time to spend with us, because again, his paramedic schedule was really, really hectic.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1800.0,1872.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/55","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: So we knew that we wanted to have another child. We were engaged. We were going to be married. We were thinking about where we were going to move to. That whole thing was coming. I took it. I'm positive. I'm pregnant. I leave. I dropped off Justin at school. I get on the railroad to go to work. I get out at Grand Central Station, all mayhem is broken loose. I get out and as soon as I get onto the street level, everyone is surrounding TVs. Everybody's on their phone. There's smoke in the air. I don't know what's going on. So everybody's surrounding at this local corner, this Chase branch had TV stations that were showing World Trade Center got attacked. So I get closer and I'm like, what's going on? I start asking everybody. Then I start making, trying to make a phone call. I actually wanted to call him because I knew he worked in Midtown.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1872.0,1933.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/56","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: He had already gotten there before me. So now I'm about to call him and there's nothing, the signals, too many phone calls and I couldn't get through. So on that corner, there were also payphones back then. So I got to a payphone. I put in my quarter, and I called the firehouse, Engine 23 in Midtown, and somebody answered the phone. So I said, hi, can I please speak to Jimmy Pappageorge? This is Gina. So this noise going on in the background, sirens, whatever. So they're like, sure. And they call him. He gets on the phone and I'm like, do you know what's happening right now? He's like, yes, yes, I know what's going on. I got to go. They're calling us. We got to go down there. I love you. Bye. And he clicks, and my heart is crushed because in my head, I know exactly how he is, and he's the type to rush as fast as he possibly can to any crazy emergency call, just because that runs through his veins. And all I could think of is he's going to do that. He's going to rush in. Whatever's happening is big, and all I want to tell him is, please be careful because I'm pregnant. All I wanted to tell him was that, and I didn't have the chance. And he hung up on me. Last thing he said was, I love you. Bye. Got to go. I love you, bye. And I never got to tell him.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=1933.0,2024.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/57","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: Something in me was like, maybe if he knew, he wouldn't have gone in. I don't know. You don't know that because everybody's like, that's his personality no matter what. They're the ones running in and everybody else is running out. And that's exactly who he was, but I never got a chance to tell him. So that really crushed me. Again, it was like another little fork in the road had I told him the night before and then said, oh, let's see tomorrow morning, see if it's true. But I didn't. I wanted to be sure. And that was the last I heard of him. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=2024.0,2067.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/58","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: What happened for you that day after that phone call?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=2067.0,2071.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/59","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: I went to work. So I walked over. At the time, I was working at Men's Journal, Sixth Avenue in the fifties. I got to the office, and of course, nobody's working. Everybody's glued to the TVs, asking each other, everybody okay? Do you know anybody? Whatever. And they knew about me and Jimmy, and they're like, did you speak to him? Is he okay? And I'm like, well, I just spoke to him on a payphone. They sent him and his company down. So we're just watching. And then in the meantime, things are getting worse. Then there's trying to tell people to evacuate, to get out. I don't know what to do. He's down there. I don't want to leave Manhattan and leave him there. But in the meantime, I have Justin, who's back in Yonkers in school, so it's like the two greatest loves of my life are in opposite directions, and I'm stuck there, and I'm like, I don't know what to do.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=2071.0,2131.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/60","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: So everybody was like, go to Justin. He's the baby. He should be okay. They're all together down there. Everything should be fine. So I left the city and I went and I had made a phone call ahead to my mom to go and get him from school. So by the time I got back to Yonkers, Justin was home with my mom. We lived in the same building, and then it was just a waiting game to find out where is he. I kept calling, no answer, no cell phones, no answer at the firehouse. I ended up calling his sister to see if she had heard anything. She was a cop, NYPD cop, so I didn't know if she was down there. I was trying to figure it out and nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing all the way until nighttime, nothing the next day, nothing. So you can imagine we were all a nervous wreck until a couple of days after we get somebody that showed up at my door. And again, this is where I start to kind of go draw blanks because I think the trauma of everything, there are certain things where I just don't remember. I try to, I don't know, my mind blocked it out. But I do remember the delegate from the firehouse coming to tell us that they have heard nothing from the six guys who went down that day and that they're still looking, but they haven't heard anything either, and they're just kind of there to support and be there, to surround us.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=2131.0,2235.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/61","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: But then it was just, like I said, just a waiting game and never heard anything after that. And his sister ended up coming over to the apartment. She showed up, and then because she had a shield, she was a police officer and she could easily get around the city, because back then what happened is, I think martial law, they closed Manhattan off to everybody. Unless you were an emergency worker, you could not get into Manhattan. So I just remember getting in the car with her. She picked me up in Yonkers at the apartment, and it was her and I. She gave me one of her jackets, NYPD jacket and a badge, and she took me, and obviously she was trying to find her brother. So we spent a few days. I remember driving down the FDR Drive, it was completely empty. It was something out of a movie, smoke everywhere, thick dust, and we were going down to the site, walking around.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=2235.0,2299.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/62","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: We saw everybody kind of just trying to dig everything out. I mean, monstrous, monstrous amounts of metal tangled. You couldn't even recognize it. We would drive from there to local hospitals, St. Vincent's, trying to see if, we remember holding a picture of him, seeing if anybody recognized his face. We were thinking, he's got to be unconscious. Maybe he's unconscious and he can't say who he is. So we would just go into hospitals trying to see if anybody recognized him. Never, ever, ever thinking that he wasn't alive, just thinking he was really hurt. And probably in a hospital somewhere running into his fellow paramedics, EMTs, because again, he had worked with everybody for so long, the firemen, he didn't know a lot of firemen yet. He was only on the job for a few weeks. So it was mainly the EMS guys. They were looking for him too. By this time, everybody found out that he was there, and everybody loved him so much, and everybody was so distraught and everybody was going through their own pain, people losing their own, and then obviously trying to find their own. Plus Jimmy, everybody was looking for him. So it was just like a wide search. Everybody was just looking for everyone.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=2299.0,2398.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/63","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: And then I think it was later in November, early December, later in November, that we got word that they had found DNA, and that's kind of when it was confirmed that they found [pause] part of him. So we had the services in December and we had to go. I remember having to go to the makeshift medical examiner's office where they had the people that they were finding, just having to go and not ID, because it was impossible to ID, but just to go in and say they belong to you. I think that was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. When they wheeled out that stretcher with a bag that were full of, not even full, had some of his remains, I had to get lifted off that bag because all I wanted to do was just crawl in along with him and not come back. [shows emotion]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=2398.0,2490.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/64","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: Sorry. Sorry if it's too graphic. Yeah, so it was really hard to get the, pull away from that. And so now my life is just, I definitely, I try to find the joy in every day, live boldly, seek out adventure. Just try to have a good life every day, because you never know what's going to happen tomorrow. More than anything, I really try desperately to find happiness and joy in everything, whether it be small moments, enjoy the good stuff, like people. I don't sweat the small stuff 'cause it's not worth it. For a long time, I did that intentionally just because if I didn't, then I was just always going to be in a place of darkness.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=2490.0,2561.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/65","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: So for Justin's sake, I didn't want to do that to him. So I learned to kind of appreciate, have gratitude, and just to try to be happy with the morning sunshine or whatever. Things can always be worse. So that's kind of what this all taught me, that things aren't ever as bad as people say they are. You definitely can find happiness and smiles in the littlest of things. And always trying to learn, he was always big on learning new things. Fitness is a big part of our lives, both for Justin and for myself. That's where we met. I still have this protein powder here next to me [laughs]. That's a part of what he taught me to live well, live happy, take care of yourself, take care of others, and just be loving.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=2561.0,2638.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/66","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: Yeah. Did you ever find out what his day was like on 9/11?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=2638.0,2646.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/67","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: He got there and soon thereafter, everything had happened so quickly. So they weren't the first due companies. I think they were, I don't even want to say what number they were, but it happens in sections. So they eventually called them down. I think I got out of the train about 8:40 something. So it was right after the first tower got hit. So he had gotten there about 7:30. So all within an hour, he already left. He kicked off his shoes, put on his bunker gear, jumped on the truck. As soon as he hung up with me, he said, the truck is leaving. Got to go. I love you. Bye. And so they found his shoes that he just kicked off, they found them on the floor. I donated those shoes to the 9/11 museum. So they have pictures of them. They have a lot of artifacts that they can't all display.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=2646.0,2713.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/68","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: There's just not enough space. So digitally you can find those shoes and a couple of other things that they found of his, they found he [laughs] was so such a nerd. That's another thing about him. He was the biggest nerd. Again, his exterior did not match who he was inside. He was the biggest nerd. He loved techie stuff. He used to carry around this compact mini little computer back in whatever that was, late 1999, 2000, whatever. He had gotten this little mini compact sort of little laptop thing, and he had this other little device. He left it behind on the truck. They found that. And I actually have another little device in there. He had all these little business cards and papers, and on there he had our wedding list.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=2713.0,2779.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/69","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: So again, going back to him being a nerd, he loved all that technology stuff. He loved to learn. He carried around a backpack that had every kind of book that had to do with human anatomy and what to do with someone on the scene, what kind of medicine he can give them for this ailment or that. So he always loved being sharp, sharp on his EMS skills so that he can rescue somebody. And not only was he full of his books, but he was very organized, which I loved [laughs]. So he loved his highlighters, his different colored pens. If you opened up one of his books, everything was perfectly highlighted in sections with dividers and tabs. And actually, I still have in that cabinet, I have his, I dunno what you call that thing, a little cabinet where he had all of his pens. I still have it because he had a pen fetish, highlighters, and he was very neat and very orderly and very organized. That's why I call him a nerd. I'm organized, but he was worse. So it was very cute. Very, very cute. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=2779.0,2863.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/70","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: Is there anything that you, I have a couple of last questions, but is there anything that you want to talk about right now?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=2863.0,2868.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/71","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: Yeah, so I'm really happy that you are doing this whole story on him and his name, his street name, which is by the neighborhood where he grew up. It's not right in front of his house, but it's in front of the Greek church where his dad belonged to. His mother was a Christian. She went to a different church, but the name, the street sign is in front of the Greek church. They were there when they were little. And I just want to say that that neighborhood where he grew up wasn't the best of neighborhoods, wasn't the safest of neighborhoods.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=2868.0,2910.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/72","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: But Jimmy grew up in that neighborhood with his sister, his mom, and his dad, and with a group of friends that are a treasure to each other. They are all, they're all still in touch with each other. They still talk all the time. They have a group thread together, and they became like brothers and sisters. So I just want everybody to know that he had the good fortune of growing up with such a great group of friends that became family. And I'm lucky that for the most part, most of them are still in our lives. One of them now living in Orlando comes down to visit his parents. And every time he's in town, he puts it out to all of us to see whoever can make it out, and we get out and have a drink, something to eat, and we catch up. I'm blessed that they're still a part of our lives, but it's something that I also admired about that upbringing that he had between his loving family, his mom, his dad, and his sister, and his aunt. He had such a great group of friends that, again, in a neighborhood that was not a safe neighborhood to grow up in that little block was just a wonderful place to be because they became like family.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=2910.0,3006.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/73","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: What would you want people to know about Jimmy?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=3006.0,3011.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/74","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: Oh my God. How could I say that in word? A couple words. Unconditional, I am trying to find the right word. Unconditional, always to the rescue, love learning, and oh my God, I have, my mind is flooding with things. I don't know if I should do it to a sentence, words, I am lost because there's so much in my head, just unconditional love. I think that sums it all, to his family, his friends, to humanity, putting the ambulance almost on two wheels just to get to somebody, to save them [laughs]. He did whatever he had to do to take care of people. That was him.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=3011.0,3107.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/75","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: Is there anything you would want to be able to tell him?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=3107.0,3117.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/76","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: That in the little bit of time that we had together, I experienced life, the meaning of what life should be. And I think that during that time with me, I think he got to experience the same, and he got to know what it was like to be a father. Even though he was so young, he left this world having lived the true meaning of life, not just about things, material things and drama. So I think he had a full life at 29, and I'm still trying to find that without him. [shows emotion]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=3117.0,3182.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/77","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Áine Pennello: Is there anything that you thought I would ask you that I didn't ask you? Anything else you want to add?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=3182.0,3188.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418/transcript/63156/annotation/78","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gina Pinos: Thank you. I'm sorry. [shows emotion] Yeah, that's it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99546/file/197418#t=3188.0,3197.80571"}]}]}]}