Joanna Glick never imagined how quickly her life could change. After managing a lOth-place finish in last winter's junior nationals, the 16-year-old amateur figure skater from Upper Saddle River, N.J., was debating whether or not to continue skating competitively. Then, on Sept. 11, tragedy struck. She and her family were devastated when older brother Jeremy, 31, died in a field outside Pittsburgh during the terrorist attacks, one of the 44 killed in the crash of hijacked United Flight 93. In his memory Joanna returned to the ice amid cheers and tears on Oct. 5 at a benefit in Madison Square Garden in New York City. Such idols as Kristi Yamaguchi, Scott Hamilton, Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski were on hand, but it was Joanna who touched the crowd of 13,000. "Tonight a 16-year-old from New Jersey will skate a special tribute, " Lipinski said in her introduction. "She skates in honor of the brother she lost on Sept. 11."
An Internet businessman and onetime judo champion, Jeremy Glick is believed to have banded with at least two other men to overpower the terrorists who took over his flight, thwarting a plan to crash into a target in Washington, D.C.—possibly the "White House. Instead, the Boeing 757 went down in Shanksville, Pa. "He was so strong, I was thinking I should be strong too, " says Glick, an 11th grader, who performed to Sarah McLachlan's "I Will Remember You." As she left the ice to a standing ovation, her famed colleagues embraced her. "It took a lot of guts, " says Lipinski, 19, recalling that several skaters wept when Joanna took center ice. "I can't even imagine what she's going through," adds Kwan, 21. "It makes you realize the Olympics is nothing."
Glick admits feeling skittish when the U.S. Figure Skating Association asked her to participate in the event, which raised roughly $600,000—$50,000 of which will benefit the United Way's September 11 Fund. With just five days to prepare her program, "I had to think about it a few minutes, " says Joanna, the youngest of six children born to Lloyd, 62, a software company executive, and Joan, 60, a school speech therapist. "But I wanted to do it for Jeremy, myself and my family."
Deep in anguish, the Glicks had their own misgivings about the show. "My family was a little nervous because of the emotional baggage, " says sister Jennifer, 35, a criminal lawyer. "Part of Joanna's performance was to show my parents she was okay and to give them five minutes of happiness, which she did." She also brought a smile to Jeremy's widow, Lyzbeth, 31, who bounced 4-month-old daughter Emmy on her lap during Joanna's routine. "She said she felt like Jeremy was there," says Jennifer.
Glick plans to make one more gift in her brother's memory. "Two days before the flight, Jeremy spent the day with my parents, " she says. "They were saying, 'Look at Emmy's legs, they're so strong.' Jeremy said, 'Joanna should teach her to figure skate.' That's what I'm going to do—as soon as she starts walking."
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