For years I’ve made a living introducing people to solutions, places and to history. This year, on the 25 anniversary of September 11, I’d like to introduce you to someone. For 25 years, people have asked me about September 11. Today, I’d rather answer a different question: “Who was Bobbi?”
The world remembers Bobbi Arestegui as one of the 2,977 people who died that day. She was a stewardess, aboard American Airlines flight 11, which the hijackers crashed into the World Trade Center’s north tower, killing everyone onboard.
I prefer to remember Bobbi as the woman whose laughter could fill a room, whose kindness filled a folder with handwritten thank you notes, and whose love has still filled my life for the last 25 years.
Time has faded some memories, but it has sharpened the important ones. I don’t remember every conversation. I remember her laugh. I remember the music. I remember her kindness. I remember the way she carried herself. I remember the love. I remember her unique style.
Today, I find myself thinking less about what I lost and more about how fortunate I was that our paths crossed in the first place.
As a stewardess, she spent 13 years caring for strangers at 35,000 feet. What still amazes me is that she kept a folder of handwritten notes from passengers. Most people would have thrown them away. Bobbi saved every one. That’s who she was. She treasured kindness because she believed people mattered.
There was a spark about her. Maybe it came from her Los Angeles upbringing, maybe from her Basque heritage or maybe it was simply Bobbi. Whatever its source, she brought warmth, color and energy wherever she went.
She was petite, stylish and carried herself with quiet confidence. Then she’d laugh — a full, infectious laugh that dissolved any pretense. It was impossible not to smile with her.
If James Taylor came on the radio, she’d stop what she was doing and sing. Music wasn’t background noise to Bobbi; it was woven into the fabric of her life. She seemed to know every artist, every song, every lyric. There always seemed to be a soundtrack to whatever adventure we were having.
One memory returns to me more often than almost any other — the evening we joined thousands of others at one of James Taylor’s concerts. As he began singing Shower the People, everyone rose to their feet. Bobbi and I stood there, swaying together, singing at the top of our lungs every word with thousands of voices around us: “Shower the people you love with love.”
At the time, it was simply a beautiful evening. Twenty-five years later, those words have become something more. Animals trusted her immediately. Cats found her lap. Dogs found her hand. Compassion wasn’t something she practiced. It was simply who she was.
Bobbi was taken from this world, but her influence has never left mine. If someone comes to mind as you read this, tell their story today. Say their name. Share a photograph. Tell someone what made them laugh. We keep those we love alive in the stories we continue to tell.
This year I wanted to introduce you to a person. Her name was Bobbi.
Wayne Nichols grew up in Vineyard Haven. He now lives on the Vineyard and St. Croix.
This article appears in September 11, 2026.
Wayne,when you read this story to me just weeks ago, creating tears from both of us, I felt blessed to meet Bobbi through you. What a wonderful, kind woman she was. May her memories live with music playing in your heart forever.
Thank you for sharing Bobbi.
Thank you for introducing us to Bobbi. I can see her in my mind’s eye. It was a more innocent time, a happier time, it sounds like Bobbi was an embodiment of that and a call to be kind and smile. We need to remember those we lost 25 years ago today. I am sorry for your loss.
Good job, Wayne. But then again, you always do a good job.
This is just so beautiful and fitting, Wayne. So appropriate, especially on this very special anniversary. Bobbi treated every passenger like a guest in her home. She was full of love and compassion and lit up the airplane with her incredible spirit no matter the situation. She always had words of encouragement and an amazing way of uplifting those around her. Forever in our hearts.
Wayne, thank you for sharing this. Her kindness and joy live on….through you.
The sheer magnitude of the loss of lives makes it very difficult for me to grasp the impact of the event. Thanks for personalizing it in such an effective and meaningful way. And a great reminder that we should shower with love the people we love everyday.