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Once-stranded, now at work New York resident's former office was buried under WTC rubble, but has reopened in midtown Manhattan By MELISSA MARTIN Almost a month after Phil Puglise watched a television news picture of a jetliner crashing into the World Trade Center, the New Yorker is back at work. Puglise was among hundreds of passengers stranded at the Medford airport on Sept. 11 when the terrorist attack grounded all U.S. flights. The Mail Tribune published a photo of Puglise weeping on the floor of the Medford terminal after watching the news of the attacks. He also appeared in a photo hugging his wife, Maria Llamas. "It's my second week back to work," the travel agent wrote in a recent e-mail. "I'm still at American Express, but on Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street in midtown as the office and building were struck and severely damaged by the attacks. "The building I worked in was beautiful. The Winter Garden (an atrium on a pier overlooking the Hudson River) is under much of the remains of what was once the World Trade Center." Since he's been back at work, he's canceled six vacations, changed many travel schedules and sold more Amtrak tickets than flights. One of his clients is missing. "New Yorkers are handling it well," Puglise wrote. "Every day, people's daily routines become evident and the heart of the city still beats on - a melting pot with trust in others no matter where they are from." While he was stranded in Medford, Puglise was worried about his sister, Nancy, a court officer on Centre Street. She was fine but had stories to tell about carrying a water cooler out to the street and helping police hand out gas masks. "Many of her colleagues got in a juror bus and went to help downtown about five blocks away from the WTC, but three of them never came back. "Nancy honored them on centerfield at Shea Stadium holding the American flag during the singing of 'God Bless America' by Diana Ross." Puglise and his wife boarded a bus for San Francisco a few hours after their unexpected landing in Medford. They stayed with a relative in Fresno, canceling the Hawaii portion of their vacation. When they couldn't get a flight back to New York, they drove. "We now appreciate life more," Puglise writes. "We're not taking anything for granted. And we love our loved ones just a little more." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.