Diane Turner
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thread 1/12
On 9/11 I always think about Tim Byrne. Yet I never saw this article about Timmy written by his cousin - JH Mohringer - the author of the Tender Bar (about Publicans - the real name of the bar from the movie the book - and a place I frequented in college. I was Tim’s date to his brother’s wedding.
10:20 AM - Sep 11, 2023
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Diane Turner
A
thread 2/12
Timmy and I were mostly friends… we flirted and snogged a couple of times and maybe danced around dating. But we mainly we laughed and life circumstances brought us together. Timmy was better to have as a friend. We were in our twenties in NYC and life was about friends. How did I meet Timmy?
10:24 AM - Sep 11, 2023
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Diane Turner
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thread 3/12
I met Jill first. Jill and I were 21 when we worked as counselors on a cross country camping trip. We drove a truck filled with camping supplies from Long Island to Alberta Canada where the 8 week “Teen Tour” would begin. It bonded us. Years into our friendship Jill told me she met Sean Byrne.
10:30 AM - Sep 11, 2023
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Diane Turner
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thread 4/12
It was obvious they were in love. Sean was 1 of 10 kids. 9 boys and 1 girl. And from a close knit family whose father had died when Sean was just 19. His younger brother Chris was always around. But it is when his older brother Tim starting hanging out things really lit up.
10:33 AM - Sep 11, 2023
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Diane Turner
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thread 5/12
Tim had swagger. He had a way of making everyone feel special. He was living life like he was running out of time - as large as he could - And his priority was always looking out for his family of which he became the man of the house to his brothers and sisters when just 21. I admit I was smitten.
10:35 AM - Sep 11, 2023
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Diane Turner
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thread 6/12
We all hung out. Just a little spark between us. So when Jill and Sean got engaged and set the date we decided to go together. The article talks about the wedding speech. I remember to this day how he held the room. Irish boy was like Sinatra holding the Mike - making us laugh and cry.
10:40 AM - Sep 11, 2023
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Diane Turner
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thread 7/12
Tim could swing you around a dance floor too. Tim and I were both Manhattanites, He drove me home to the city. We kissed but that is always where it ended. I used to think maybe one day when the timing is right. Hill and Sean settled down and started having kids. I saw less of her - my bad.
10:43 AM - Sep 11, 2023
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Diane Turner
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thread 8/12
The last time I saw Tim I ran into him at another iconic bar/ music venue. The Steven’s Talkhouse inAnagansett. It was August of 2001. I hadn’t seen him in a good 8 months. I was 34. He read me the riot act. He said Jill loves you and misses you. You need to go see her. I promised him I would.
10:47 AM - Sep 11, 2023
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Diane Turner
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thread 9/12
But the next time I spoke to Jill was just a couple of weeks later when she called to say that Timmy had been lost in the Towers, He wasn’t supposed to be there. He had a flight to London that day. But he decided to drop by early. He was on the phone w his mom when he saw the plane.
10:49 AM - Sep 11, 2023
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Diane Turner
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thread 10/12
It was a gut punch. He last words were kind and thoughtful. Thinking of others. Flashforward 19 years later to March 2020 just days before the pandemic became a thing. I had plans to see Jill one day when she called me in shock. Her husband Sean had died of a heart attack the night before.
10:53 AM - Sep 11, 2023
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Diane Turner
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thread 11/12
So now Tim’s brother was gone too young as well at 53. Just 14 months before I had lost my Jim to a heart attack at 53 as well. It seemed unfathomable, Sean and Timmy gone. My Jim gone, Bright lights on the planet.
10:55 AM - Sep 11, 2023
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Diane Turner
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thread 12/12
Timmy’s cousin included a prologue chapter in The Tender Bar about Timmy. Reading his article from 2001 today brought me back to that wedding toast to when we were young and bright and naive to the loss the world could put on you. It was a shining moment in time. RIP Timmy,

Today I will call Jill
10:58 AM - Sep 11, 2023
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