Susan Retik of Needham lost her husband, David, in 9/11. Then she began helping Afghan war widows through her nonprofit, Beyond the 11th.
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Susan Retik and her college sweetheart, Dave, settled into the life of their dreams—happily married with two children, and a third on the way. Tragically, one moment would change Susan's life forever.
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In the shattering aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, Ms. Retik bonded with another woman, Patti Quigley, whose husband had also died in the attack. They lived near each other, and both were pregnant with babies who would never see their fathers.
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Susan Retik, 43, wants you to know she’s no one special—she’s just your average suburban mom with a dog and four children (and she sometimes yells at them). Even so, what the Needham, Mass., woman has done is extraordinary. In the midst of mourning, Retik took the love and compassion showered on her and reached out to women in the foreign country that was the source of her own tragedy.
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After personal tragedy, Susan Retik Ger ’90 sought to improve the lives of other women.
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Patti Quigley and Susan Retik bumped along in a car on the dusty roads of Kabul, Afghanistan, knowing that just being in the war-ravaged place was a risky move.
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The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks brought about many changes in American society. The government established a new department to deal with terrorist threats. Airports instituted tough new security rules. Public awareness of Islam and Muslim countries grew and - in many cases - so did distrust and hate.
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Susan Retik and Patti Quigley lead privileged American lives, 7,000 miles away from the hardscrabble existence of two Afghan sisters-in-law, Sahera and Sadiqa.
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