Together from the first night of meeting at a New York City club, Lisa thought she’d lose Andy when just after graduating college, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. But Andy never left her side. Lisa calls him “a treasure”. After chemotherapy and surgery, the two married. Both with successful careers in finance, they welcomed twin sons in 1990.
Andy had just started a new job on the 92nd floor at The World Trade Center two weeks before September 11, 2001. When a plane hit the North a tower, where he worked, Andy called Lisa, cool as a cucumber, and told her,” We’re all in a room and we have plenty of air to breathe”. Lisa could only tell Andy, “I love you”. She somehow knew it would be their last phone call ever.
In the first few days after September 11th, Lisa took her boys into the midtown section of the city posting flyers with Andy’s picture. Shielding her sons from the devastated area in Lower Manhattan, Lisa and the boys took care packages to firehouses, after hearing that’s what the firefighters needed at Ground Zero. Their feet quickly became wet and soiled working on what was called “the pile”. Socks became a symbol of hope for the boys.
As adults, Mike and Dan launched a sock company serving tall men, to honor their late, 6’5” father. Tall Order socks are embroidered with their twin towers-inspired logo. Part of the profits are donated to 9/11charities. Their dad always told his sons to pay it forward, give back, and help those less fortunate. They carry his guidance with them every day.