25 years after 9/11, a mother remembers her ‘beautiful boy’

(From left) Gail Callahan with Michael and his sisters Michelle and Marianne; Michael describes the size of the fish he caught during a night fishing excursion with his sister Martha; a younger Michael shows off his big catch.

By Beth Erickson

I’m far away where I want to be. But deep inside I miss the sea. -Excerpted from a poem written by Michael Uliano and sent to his grandfather, Thomas Crawford, when he was in the Army

September 11, 2001 was a beautiful, end-of-summer day, with a clear blue sky and abundant sunshine when Gail Callahan drove to her 9-3 job as a cashier at Stop and Shop. All seemed right with the world. Until it wasn’t.

“A very well-dressed gentleman came through my line,” she remembered this week. “He had only two items: a bunch of bananas and the New York Times. I asked him why he wanted the New York paper and he told me that a plane had hit the North Tower at the World Trade Center.”

Callahan said she froze and couldn’t fully process what he was telling her. “I told him that my son was in that tower, and he calmly told me that I needed to go home. So I took off my apron and walked out of the building.”

Driving home, she prayed for a miracle, prayed that her oldest son, 42-year-old Michael Uliano, would be safe. She prayed that he was not at work that Tuesday morning.

But he was.

An employee of Cantor Fitzgerald, Uliano was in his office on the 105th floor of the World Trade Center’s North Tower when the Boeing 767 — hijacked out of Logan Airport — crashed into the building’s north facade between the 93rd and 99th floors, killing all 92 passengers aboard and over 1,400 people in the building. That number included Callahan’s son, who left behind his wife, Linda, eight siblings — Michele, Marianne, Melissa, Mark, Matthew, Martha, Nathan and EJ — and a large extended family. In the days and weeks that followed the worst attack on the United States since Pearl Harbor, accolades poured in about Uliano, a beloved son of Canton.

In the days and weeks that followed the worst attack on the United States since Pearl Harbor, accolades poured in about Uliano, a beloved son of Canton.

The town held a candlelight vigil in the center on September 14. A few days later, grief-stricken residents “joined hands across Canton” — lining the full length of Washington Street — to mourn Uliano and the nearly 3,000 others who died the same day, and to cheer for a procession of public safety workers and town vehicles.

Late Canton Veterans Agent Tony Andreotti stood outside Town Hall for days, holding a large American flag and crying for the country, for the lives lost, and for Uliano, whom he had known since he was a child. “Michael was a leader,” he said. “I visualize him in those towers, and I think what I see is a young man looking out for everyone else.”

On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, John Connolly, who graduated from CHS with Uliano in 1978, planned a ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park that featured the unveiling of a memorial in Uliano’s honor. Designed by architect Greg Pando, the memorial is inscribed with a tribute to Uliano and ends with the words: Your spirit has touched and inspired all who knew you. Your sacrifice will never be forgotten.

Also speaking on behalf of Uliano were his younger brothers, Mark and Matt. All three Uliano boys had played quarterback for the Bulldogs and all three had donned No. 10 — a number that has since been retired at CHS.

“He was an awesome brother,” Mark said. “He was a proud son. He loved Canton, and I want everyone who is here today to know that.”

Uliano’s niece Sweeden Culver said her uncle had an “unabashed zest for life” and a “one-of-a-kind personality.”

“Michael was full of life,” Connolly said as he reminisced about his friend. “He loved to act, dance, sing, cook, and he loved to fish. Boy, did he love to fish.”

He was gifted — artistically, intellectually, socially,” U.S. Congressman Stephen Lynch added. “He had it all.”

Lynch was correct: Michael Uliano did have it all.

High school portrait of Michael Uliano

He is widely remembered throughout Canton for his exploits on the gridiron, a star quarterback who led the Bulldogs to their first Hockomock League title in 1977. Many also remember the recordbreaking four touchdowns he scored against league powerhouse North Attleboro that same year.

For the fine arts communities at CHS, at Cushing Academy and at Ithaca College, he is remembered as a tremendous athlete, an actor, a singer, a dancer, an artist and a poet. Those who knew him best will remember how much he loved Singin’ in the Rain with Gene Kelly, and how he wanted to learn how to tap dance. They might also remember how he loved Jacques Cousteau’s art and underwater photography. With his wide knowledge, deep skills and different talents across many fields, Michael Uliano was truly a Renaissance man.

But for Gail Callahan, her son was all about love. “He had a big heart and was never afraid to let people know he cared,” she said. “Michael was a child of God.”

In an interview this week, Callahan recalled telling Uliano when he was very young that he would be the first American pope someday. “He was that good,” she said. “The other boys would roughhouse, but Michal never did. He was always strong, but never wanted to hurt anyone — even in fun.”

“Michael was fiercely loyal to his family,” she said, noting how much he loved his grandparents. She still has a note he wrote to his grandmother when he was 7.

Dear grandmother: I love you. You are sweet and kind. Your hands are soft and your face feels nice and you’re very pretty. You say nice words to me. Love, Michael

Callahan remembers the day she brought her youngest child, EJ, home from the hospital. “Michael came right out to the car, carefully took the baby out of my arms and carried him into the house,” she said. “He adored EJ and was so proud to be his big brother.”

Callahan said her son also loved animals and recalled the day he heard a kitten crying outside his apartment in Brooklyn. “Michael went downstairs and rescued the kitten who was hanging on the edge of a sewer grate. He took him in, then fed and nurtured him. He named him Crevice Augustine (Michael’s middle name) Tennacious. After that, Crevice waited at the door every night for Michael to come home.”

“Then there was the iguana he found during a trip to California and named Longtail,” Callahan added.

Unbeknownst to his mother, he stowed it away in a bag on the plane. “When Longtail died, Michael had a funeral for him and buried him in one of my white linen napkins,” she said.

Callahan vividly recalls a day in 1983 when she was in the house and heard the roar of a motorcycle outside. “It was Michael,” she said. “He told me he had enlisted in the Army and bought the motorcycle to ride to Fort Riley Kansas.” It was the first Callahan heard about the motorcycle — or the Army!

She remembers her son’s persistence when he wanted to play quarterback for his Pop Warner football team. “The coach had already chosen a quarterback,” Callahan recalled, “but Michael kept asking for a chance. The coach eventually gave Michael a shot and he was quarterback in every game after that right through Canton High School, Cushing Academy and Ithaca College.”

A memorial in Michael’s honor at Veterans Memorial Park in Canton Corner Cemetery

In the months leading up to 9/11, Uliano was designing fishing lures and called them Artifishels. “He was writing and illustrating a book about them when he died,” Callahan said.

Callahan said that of all the wonderful tributes to her son, there is one that stands out above the rest. “There was a woman who spoke at Michael’s memorial service,” she said. “She had a child with special needs who played in their backyard, alone, always alone. She remembered that one day Michael stopped by to play — and kept coming back! She said Michael was the only child who ever came, and she said she would never forget his kindness.”

Today, on the eve of 9/11, Callahan remembers the shock and pain that overcame her 25 years ago. “It was the worst day of my life,” she said.

When she got home from her job at Stop and Shop, she turned on the TV and watched the coverage of the attacks, praying that she would see her son safely outside the tower. Even when New York officials announced that there would be no more survivors, Callahan prayed that he had made it out of the tower and was still alive. “Many, many times when I was walking along the beach in Eastham, I thought I saw Michael walking towards me. Sometimes I would find a scrap of paper in the sea grass and thought it was a note from Michael. Once I accepted that he was gone, I was comforted by thinking of him in heaven with his grandparents and his father.”

Callahan has visited Ground Zero, but the beach in Eastham is where she feels closest to her son. The Uliano family installed a memorial bench and a flag in Uliano’s honor at Hemenway Landing, and that is where Callahan sits and thinks of her beautiful boy.

“When I’m there,” she said, “I can feel him all around me — in the sky, in the soft sand, in the water, in every ocean breeze — in the place that was so dear to him. And I hear his voice: I’m far away where I want to be. But deep inside I miss the sea.”

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