Update: Massapequa Mom of 9/11 Victim Reacts to bin Laden's Death

Rosemary Cain was awakened late Sunday by a phone call.

“Osama bin Laden is dead,” the woman on the other line said.

It’s been nearly 10 years since Cain, of Massapequa, lost her son in the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. George Cain, 35, was a New York City firefighter in Ladder Company 7.

The call came from the excited mother of another victim. Toni Fontana, of Westbury, also lost her son, David Fontana, a firefighter in Brooklyn Squad 1.

“It is good news,” Rosemary Cain told a Patch.com reporter minutes later. “To tell you the truth I haven’t had time to process it. I’m thankful to God and our military. They deserve the credit for hunting him down and killing him. That’s one less evil person walking the earth.”

President Barack Obama announced the killing of al-Qaida leader and 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden in an address to the nation from the White House just after 11:30 p.m. Sunday.

While the news was welcome, Cain said it does not change the fact her son  – a Massapequa High School graduate – is gone.

“I don’t use the word closure," Cain said. "I don’t know what closure is. No, my son is still gone. My son was 35 years old. My son was in the prime of his life. He was healthy, vital, a runner and a skier. He loved his life, his job and family – and he’s gone forever.” 

Few can understand the depth of Cain's loss. That's why the mothers of Cain and Fontana grew close. They met in a support group the FDNY established for parents of the victims. The group has convened weekly for nearly nine years.

And that's why this late-night wake-up call was so special.

"We have become very close and are together often," Cain said. "We have shared the journey and underdstand each other as no one else can."

Massapequa suffered a heavy loss on 9/11. Among the dead: James J. Carson Jr., 32, of Massapequa Park; Peter Ganci, 54, of North Massapequa; Thomas Theodore Haskell, 37, of Massapequa; Ronald George Hoerner, 58, of Massapequa Park; Anthony Jovic, 39, Massapequa Park; Lester Vincent Marino, 57, Massapequa; Henry Miller Jr., 52, of Massapequa; Michael J. Pascuma, 50, of Massapequa Park; Timothy Alan Roy Sr., 36, of Massapequa Park; Frank G. Schott, 39, of Massapequa; Christopher P. Sullivan, 38, of Massapequa; and David Wiswall, 54, of North Massapequa.