THE NEXT RIGHT THING
Posted on July 25, 2026 Leave a Comment
1.
“How do we know what the next right thing is?” you write. The pocket-sized journal we pass between us rests on a nightstand beside a lamp and an analogue alarm clock.
You’ve finished your work and settled into bed at 1:00 AM. This living testimony exists because Oprah suggests that a shared gratitude journal nurtures intimacy – a way for busy couples to strengthen connection. The summer of 1999 is a busy time in our life – career building, home renovating, keeping our six-year-old and two-year-old boys alive and happy.
“Do we need to think more about where? Are we in the right state, country, planet?” you ask.
We’re ten years into our five-year starter home. The plan was – mortgage what we can barely afford, fix it up as best we can, add kids, upgrade to a bigger and better forever home. Begin comfortable living.
I write, “I’m ready for better, new and improved, to get on with it! Where do we belong? How and when do we get there? How do we know it’s right? We’ve reached maximum capacity – for the piano, kid’s dressers, computer equipment, laundry. Don’t get me wrong, this is the good ‘ole days... I’m worried I might not live long enough to experience opening a window that doesn’t crash down, enjoy dinner on a deck large enough for a table and six chairs, walk barefoot through a space not littered with Legos and Matchbox cars.”
2.
GPS was first used by the military for navigation. It helped provide safety and accuracy for strategic purposes. Navigating through unfamiliar territory can be daunting. When our children become drivers, they won’t be able to imagine plotting a course without a clue about directions.
There’s no need to think about where. Our global positioning appears to work for us –proximity to our work, public transportation, shopping, the ocean. You have the freedom of independent mobility, given your declining vision. Yet, we’ve outgrown this 1600-ft2 pre-World War I Dutch Colonial, filled the attic and the rafters in the garage, and expanded into a storage unit.
The right thing is what we know. For eighteen years, all the right things – from the day you carried my books on a campus sidewalk to this twilight entry in our own family home – have brought us to this page. Living between the lines.
3.
You wrote, “I am deeply troubled by our recent experiences. The choices we have made put us through many changes. I’m grateful for where we are today” — May 11, 1998.
No amount of satellite signals can guide us through the unknown future. All things in life are the result of what has come before us. Millions of choices – intentional and inflicted – have led us to where we are today. I’ve traced ancestors through ten centuries of mothers and fathers, lords and warriors, bricklayers and immigrants whose fate and choices – wise, nefarious, and miscalculated – have brought us to this question, in our bed, our two little boys dreaming in the adjacent space.
4.
Today marks our 39th anniversary – twenty-five empty pages. This week I have driven 1,044 miles. I have told our story fifteen times on Capitol Hill and asked government prosecutors how long a presumptive trial may take to sentence the men who chose radical ideology, chose al Qaeda, chose our history.
Our love, my dear, is not a choice.
5.
For our twelfth anniversary you gave me a blue topaz stone encircled by twelve diamonds, dangling from a chain. When I began to write this story, I searched for it – to hold it. Misplaced, I’m devastated, again.
We had reached a place where we eclipsed survival. We were thriving – building our careers, funding college and retirement accounts, strengthening our relationship. With this expansion we relaxed into the disillusionment of choice, daring to plan the future that we envisioned, somewhere outside the lines of all the futures we had already manifested.
Pima Chödrön reminds us that the journey itself is the goal. It’s not about getting somewhere; it’s about right now, how we live this life. This is our journey. It’s a process of growth. “Our lives aren’t about constantly chasing the next milestones. We aren’t finally arriving. It’s about how we meet this moment – with openness and the willingness to keep growing.”
6.
You write, “My dearest wife of 12 years. Sorry, no special plans for the day, but I did get you a special treat. Part of that working too hard thing and planning around the kids makes it difficult to get it together. I appreciate a nice dinner and maybe a movie or something as much as anything else. I think of more enduring love and strength for our future. To us in good health!
Your Husband — 7/25/99.
In 779 days the alarm will not sound. You’ll toss it to the floor. I’ll choose to help you leave – lay out your clothes, pack turkey slices, brush off your shoes. You’ll choose to run for the bus. You will not return to this bed. I will search for you. Your brother will slip into the vacancy. I will leave this house, this city, this state. Our son will choose to join you. Another will only know you in the liminal space of these pages.
The question remains on the page, indelible.
7.
I never expected this. Twenty-five years cannot erode my love for you. I’ll drive a million miles to pursue truth and accountability for your empty pages. Justice itself is not the goal; it’s a process of discovery. My life is no longer about chasing the next triumph. I’m not finally arriving at a reckoning. It’s about how I meet each moment – with openness and the willingness to keep awakening. This is my testimony. It’s what I know. — 7/25/2026
© 2026 Deborah Garcia, all rights reserved
Representatives Join Coalition of Survivors and Victim Families in A Bipartisan Effort To Secure Justice for Victims of Iran State Sponsored Terrorism
Posted on July 18, 2026 Leave a Comment
American Victims of State-Sponsored Terrorism United (AVSTU) will come together to hold a press conference and hold meetings with legislators on Capitol Hill, Washington D.C. AVSTU is a coalition representing more than 20,000 American victims of state-sponsored terrorism.
On July 21-22, I will stand with a coalition of survivors and family members whose lives were forever altered by Iran state-sponsored Terrorism. The coalition consists of more than 20,000 Americans, impacted by attacks spanning decades, united in our mission to advocate for the critical needs of our community and to seek justice for those who continue to live with the lasting effects of terrorism.
Our coalition includes victims and families affected by, among other attacks:
- 1968 U.S.S. Pueblo Attack
- 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis
- 1983 Beirut Barracks Bombing
- 1983 and 1984 U.S. Embassy Bombings in Beirut City
- 1985 TWA Flight 847 Hijacking
- 1996 Khobar Towers Bombing
- 1998 U.S. Embassy Bombings in East Africa
- 2001 U.S.S. Cole Attack
- September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania
- 2016 Nice, France Attack
- October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel
Priorities of discussions for this session include:
1. The geographic reach and human impact of American families seeking justice.
2. Critical policy barriers that continue to hinder the recovery of assets owed to victims.
3. The House NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) Amendment 1120 (Malliotakis-Gillen), which would help protect the U.S. Victims of State-Sponsored Terrorism Fund.
https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF10515
Learn more about USVSST:
https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/PDF/IF10341/IF10341.10.pdf
MEET WITH PROSECUTION IN THE CASE OF THE U.S. vs. KSM
Posted on June 19, 2026 Leave a Comment
Get updated on the Military Commissions case of the 9/11 detainees at Naval Base Guantanamo Bay. Opportunity for engagement and to ask questions.
When: July 22
Where: Virtual / In-Person in Washington D.C.
RSVP: July 10
Contact to Register: osd.pentagon.omc.list.vwap@mail.mil
THE ART OF THE DEAL RIPS JUSTICE FROM 9/11 VICTIMS
Posted on June 18, 2026 Leave a Comment
As we approach the 25th anniversary of the September 11th, 2001 attacks, American victims of international terrorism are being dismissed by our government. Happy birthday Mr. President.
OUR GOVERNMENT WANTS AMERICA TO FORGET!
For seventeen years 9/11 families have fought to pursue justice against sovereign countries and designated State Sponsors of Terrorism. In 2015, PL. 114-113, known as JASTA, was enacted by Congress to establish the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund with the goal to bankrupt terrorism by seizing sanctioned Iranian assets and fining companies that do business with Iran, distributing a portion of those assets to American victims of terrorism. Battles ensued for three more years to lift the ban on 9/11 families, unjustly imposed as the result of a fine-print waiver attached to the Victims Compensation Fund of 2001, forfeiting our right to pursue future civil suits. In 2018, 9/11 victims, family members, and victim estates received judgements from the Department of Justice. An initial round of payments began at the end of 2019. The Fund, designed to issue annual payments of varied amounts, is set to sunset in 2039.
This is an act of Congress! Poof.
None of the 9/11 planners nor powers have been set to trial! 9/11, USS COLE, and Bali Nightclub Bombing Detainees continue to enjoy immunity from conviction in an assisted living facility (costing taxpayers at over $13,000,000 per detainee, annually) off the mainland, 1,400 miles from Ground Zero. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/16/us/politics/sept-11-attacks-trial.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
Victims, survivors, and victim family members are also determined to bring the financiers and individuals who aided the 9/11 hijackackers— Saudi government employees— to trial in our unyielding litigation against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/us/politics/saudi-arabia-lawsuit-9-11-families.html?s
25-YEARS, NO JUSTICE FOR THE 2,977 SOULS MURDERED ON AMERICAN SOIL.
The USVSSTF has been the only form of justice I may see in my lifetime. I was 37 when my life was shattered and my children and I were thrust into this ceaseless, redactive public charade through six administrations of politicization and monetization of David’s murder.
Lifting the sanctions on Iran for the purpose of voter gain is a disgrace. Infuriating! Does this mean that Iran’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism will be lifted?
The United States is literally supplying terrorism victim blood money to a military regime (aka: IRGC) to grow terrorism forces, bolstering crimes against humanity.
There is no mention of the Americans who were victimized by the terrorists cultivated by this militant regime. Americans who were awarded a shred of justice mandated by Public Law, to have it ripped away in the forthcoming 25th Anniversary of the event of our lifetime which lives in infamy.
Paragraphs 7-11 in the “Memorandom of understanding”(MOU) 14-point deal struck with Mr. President between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran to exit his illegal war, draining American’s pockets and waning his popularity among voters, the Senate, and the billionairs who profit by funding his office . https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/17/us/politics/us-iran-agreement-deal-text.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
7. The United States of America undertakes to terminate all types of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the United Nations Security Council resolutions, i.e. a Board of Governors resolutions, and all unilateral US sanctions, primary and secondary, in an agreed upon schedule as part of the final deal. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America acknowledge the critical importance of the sanctions termination issue above mentioned and expressed their intentions to immediately address these issues in the negotiations in order to achieve mutual agreement on them to paragraph eight. Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons. United States of America and Islamic Republic of Iran have agreed to resolve the disposition of stockpile enriched material pursuant to a mechanism that will be mutually agreed upon in accordance with the schedule mentioned in paragraph seven, with the minimum methodology to be down blending on site under the supervision of the IAEA.
8. The two parties also agreed to discuss the issue of enrichment and other mutually agreed matters related to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear needs, based on a satisfactory framework being agreed upon in the final deal. The final deal will confirm the provisions of this paragraph. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran acknowledge the critical importance of the nuclear issues above mentioned and express their intention to immediately address these issues in the negotiations in order to achieve mutual agreement on them.
9. Pending the final deal, the United States of America and Islamic Republic of Iran agree to maintain the status quo. The Islamic Republic of Iran will maintain the current status quo of its nuclear program and the United States of America will not impose any new sanctions and will not deploy additional forces in the region.
10. The United States of America undertakes that immediately upon the signing of MOU until the termination of sanctions, US Department of Treasury will issue waivers for the export of Iranian crude oil, petroleum products, and derivatives, and all associated services, including banking transactions, insurances, transportation, etc.
11. The United States of America undertakes to make fully available for use the frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Upon the implementation of this MOU, the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran will mutually agree on the procedures related to the release of these funds during the negotiations. Such funds, whether retained in the original account or transferred, shall be made fully usable for payment to any ultimate beneficiary designed by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States of America undertakes to issue all necessary licenses and authorizations accordingly.
U.S. v. KSM, et. al. Notification
Posted on January 24, 2026 Leave a Comment
Dear Survivors & Families,
We write to inform you regarding the recent developments in United States v. Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, et. al.
As you know, there has been continuing litigation regarding pre-trial agreements related to three of the five accused. Earlier this month our office notified you that the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the defense motions for a rehearing. This means that the Court’s July 11, 2025 decision, which determined that then-Secretary Austin validly withdrew from the agreements in August 2024, remains in effect.
The defense has the opportunity to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court of the United States and will have until April 6, 2026 to file their petitions should they choose to do so. A petition to the Supreme Court is the only appellate course of action remaining in this process.
Ensuring you are engaged and informed is important to the prosecution team. In support of that mission, VWAP will host the team for two in-person/virtual events on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, where you can hear from the prosecutors and discuss the current state of the proceedings. These events will allow them to further explain the path forward and for you to express your views.
We encourage survivors and victim family members to attend and participate. In-person attendance is available for those in the D.C. area. However, there is a limited capacity, and all attendees will be subjected to a security screening.
Admittance to the events, both virtually and physically, will only be allowed through an RSVP to ensure that only survivors and victim family members are in attendance. Please RSVP by Monday, February 2, 2026. When you RSVP you will be given the opportunity to submit questions to the prosecution team in advance, but you will also have the opportunity to ask your questions during the Q & A portion of the event.
We encourage you to share this information with immediate family members and other survivors, so they have an opportunity to enroll in the VWAP program to join the meeting.
As always, please do not hesitate to contact my office with any questions or concerns.
Our entire VWAP Team, including Director Danielle Reddan, can be reached at osd.pentagon.OMC.list.vwap@mail.mil. Details regarding these events, including how to RSVP, are contained in the attached information sheet.
We will continue to provide you with additional information and updates about this case as it becomes available. Thank you for your continued engagement and commitment to this legal process.
Very Respectfully,
Danielle Reddan
Director
Victim/Witness Assistance Program
Clayton Trivett
Managing Trial Counsel
9/11 Prosecution Team
Jeffrey Groharing
Trial Counsel
9/11 Prosecution Team
Joshua Bearden
Colonel, JA, U.S. Army National Guard
9/11 Prosecution Team
NFORMATION SHEET
Event Information:
The meetings will be held on February 10, 2026 in two sessions:
Virtual Meeting – Morning Session 9:15 AM
Virtual Meeting – Afternoon Session 4:15 PM
Tysons Corner, VA (Live) [Office of the Chief Prosecutor]
Further information, including the meeting invitation, will be distributed after a confirmed
RSVP. Please RSVP here: https://forms.osi.apps.mil/r/q3hxy9Dfix
Please submit your RSVP by the end of business on Monday, February 2, 2026.
Contact Information:
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the Victim/Witness
Assistance Program (VWAP) Team:
Email: osd.pentagon.OMC.list.vwap@mail.mil
Phone: 703-695-6966
LARK ASCENDING
Posted on October 31, 2025 Leave a Comment
I stand in the opening of the garage in my home in Vermont, chucking balls for the border collie to chase. The yard is veiled under a heavy blanket of leaves, the amber and bittersweet tinge of fall’s bruising. I’m wearing winter fleece under my rain jacket. The dog doesn’t care about the cold or the soaking rain. The shifting late afternoon light catches a faint stain in the concrete, where my son last parked five years ago. This deluge has cloistered me. But I need to move beyond the long private pass, breath fresh air, lift my spirit. I drive to a nature preserve, harness the dog, and grip the leash as if it’s the only thing left to hold onto. It’s 5:00 PM. The cold feathers my spine. I don’t want to step into this darkness. Is this baptism worth suffering for…?
On this day in 2020, just after I prepared the house for my sister’s arrival, my son has hugged me goodbye and says he’ll plan supper. COVID has cancelled Halloween so I hike the nature preserve with my dog. Tuned to a radio app, a beautiful pastoral composition sings from my pocket— “Lark Ascending” by Vaughan Williams. Violins resonate in rising and drifting motion while starlings undulate in the fading light, like a dark veil. My son has already risen into the firmament, but I don’t know this yet. What I know is that he will love this music. I pause in the meadow, pull out my phone, and tap the title into a note. The October sky blushes over a nearby field, where a herd of banded cows rush toward the pale with their throaty bellows, scouting us with their big black eyes. They don’t know about larks, only fences and boundaries and meadow and mountain and hoof and breath.
The earth tilts toward darkness and I quicken my pace to loop back. Stones scrape against the tread of my boots. Leaves dapple the path ahead like copper coins cast from a heist, masking my impression. The citrine sun illuminates an opening where the silhouettes of two massive junipers vignette a tinting reflection. The way out is longer than anticipated and I cannot outstep the glow sinking into the mirror pond. I think my son has returned home with a bag of groceries, perhaps he’s slicing onions, draining clams, tempering cream. Anxious to share the splendor, I prepare to text the photos I snapped with a note of my return, idling in the unpaved lot. But I don’t. Instead, I think of sitting together, scrolling through photos, listening to violins, holding the beauty.
… I return home to unfurl a line across the verge, so no goblins and fairies with a sweet tooth ring the bell. No Jacko-lanterns or violins or mask. I want to light a fire, curl under a soft blanket, thaw leftovers, and write this story.
2025 Deborah Garcia, All Rights Reserved. Photos from personal photo stream – October 31, 2020, Jericho VT.
Autumn Reflecting Absence
Posted on September 22, 2025 Leave a Comment
Image created from personal photographs, enhanced using photo editing tools and Microsoft Copilot.
Fall was once another woman’s favorite time of year. For her, cooling temps renewed energy, darkening days shifted from strawberries and cream to steamy apple pies, falling colors signaled lifecycle tinting toward her October birthday. This woman holds a precious contemplative space in absence alongside her living son, through the gilded equinox— The September remembrance of meeting her lover and his death; the hallowed October parting of her beloved son; the September 22 birthday of a mother who blew out her last candle in 1981.
© 2025 Deborah Garcia, all rights reserved
THE NEWS IS MOSTLY TRUTH
Posted on September 11, 2025 Leave a Comment
Wendy and Barb sit on either side of me like the sibylline lions, Patience and Fortitude. I’m looking toward the corner of Morris and South Bay, listening for the rumble of a school bus, but all I hear is my heart pounding. I imagine Dylan’s morning: he’s humming a new tune; made a new friend; drawn a picture of his family.
Sue parks at the curb. I’ve forgotten the sitter was coming, that I have an afternoon of feeding tubes and language games. Startled, I turn to face her. Sue sees me the way you see tragedy, no matter how dark the shades are.
“Oh no Debbie, please don’t say it.”
A simple statement, don’t say it. A window slamming shut on your life.
I see her. She is real. This is real. Monday, David was to stay home. Sue was not coming to the doorstep, now she is.
I want to go back inside, savor my coffee and flip the open news page. It’s the wrong day and I know everything now. I want the phones silenced before noises form words that are all wrong. I want to push the green call button, sob to Dave about Dylan’s first day of school, while he pauses on the concourse.
The four of us sit on the stoop in silence, and I wonder if I can forestall a terrible thing from happening, by simply remaining still.
A yellow bus pauses.
I move alone to the corner to embrace the innocence, and walk our four-year-old into his new world.
The driver whispers, “I hope you don’t know anyone in the buildings. It’s terrible.
“Mommy, I had a great first day of school. Dasani is my best friend!”
The blue sky is now veiled in a milky haze, the breeze has become a wind, and the air is silt, and sea, and ash.
“What did you do today?”
“We had circle time, I got my name on my cubby, and we made pictures. I had fun in school today.”
“That’s very good Dylan.”
© 2025 Deborah Garcia, all rights reserved
URGENT ACTION CALL to Family and Friends of 9/11 Victims
Posted on September 8, 2025 Leave a Comment
Use the Letter Template Download below. Email Subject line: Bring the AVTCA to the Floor—“Honor Your Promise on 9/11.” Address 5 members of congress as follows:
Congressman Lawler: Courtney.Kaufman@mail.house.gov
Congresswoman Malliotakis: Kevin.Rodgers@mail.house.gov
Senator Cornyn: Leslie_Slaughter@judiciary-rep.senate.gov
Leader Scalise: Meg.McGaughey@mail.house.gov
Speaker Johnson: Chris.Jaarda@mail.house.gov
THANK YOU.
