Marcy

Mother of 3 wonderful boys!

[David Smith @digidavey]

She was 27 years old.
And in her final minutes alive, she tried to comfort everyone else.
On September 11, 2001, a young woman picked up an Airfone on a hijacked plane and spoke eight words her family has carried for the rest of their lives:
“This is going to be so much harder for you than it is for me.”
Her name was Honor Elizabeth Wainio.
Everyone called her Lizz.
Two days earlier, she had been in Paris.
She had just returned from Europe — a long-anticipated trip filled with joy. She attended a friend’s wedding in Florence. She walked the Champs-Élysées. She stepped into a church and lit a candle for her grandmother.
She once told her mother that if she ever got to see Paris, she could die happy.
She was 27. A rising district manager for Discovery Channel Stores. Driven. Organized. Warm. The kind of person who lived quickly because she believed there was so much life ahead.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, Lizz boarded United Airlines Flight 93 in Newark, bound for San Francisco.
There were 40 passengers and crew onboard.
At 9:28 a.m., four hijackers stormed the cockpit.
The plane violently dropped 700 feet. Screams filled the cabin. Passengers were forced to the rear of the aircraft.
But something happened on Flight 93 that changed history.
Through phone calls placed from seat-back Airfones and cell phones, passengers learned the unimaginable truth: planes had already struck the World Trade Center. The Pentagon had been hit.
This was not a hostage situation.
It was a coordinated suicide attack.
The people onboard understood before it was too late.
In the chaos, someone handed Lizz a phone.
“Call someone you love.”
She reached her stepmother, Esther.
Her voice, according to family accounts and later investigations, was steady. Clear. Not hysterical. Not broken.
She was trying to protect the person on the other end.
“It just hurts me most,” she said, “that this is going to be so much harder for you than it is for me.”
Pause there.
A 27-year-old woman, facing death at 30,000 feet, worried more about her family’s grief than her own fear.
They spoke for several minutes — about four, according to reports. They breathed together. There were no dramatic speeches. Just love carried through static.
Then Lizz said something else.
“I’m gonna be with Grandma.”
Her grandmother had lived near rural Pennsylvania — not far from where the plane would ultimately crash. Lizz could not have known that.
But in that moment, she found comfort in reunion.
At 9:57 a.m., passengers made a collective decision.
They were going to fight back.
Flight attendant Sandra Bradshaw told her husband she was boiling water to throw at the hijackers. Passenger Todd Beamer prayed the Lord’s Prayer with an operator and said words that would echo across a stunned nation:
“Let’s roll.”
Lizz’s final words came just before the counterattack began.
“They’re getting ready to break into the cockpit. I have to go. I love you. Good-bye.”
At 10:03 a.m., Flight 93 crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Investigators later concluded the hijackers were likely targeting either the U.S. Capitol or the White House. Because the passengers resisted, the aircraft never reached its intended target.
The 40 passengers and crew were later awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of their courage.
Today, the site is preserved as the Flight 93 National Memorial.
There stands the Tower of Voices — 40 wind chimes, each tuned to a distinct note. When the wind crosses that quiet Pennsylvania field, the chimes do not blend into one sound.
They remain separate.
Individual.
For years, Lizz’s father would call her cellphone just to hear her voicemail greeting. One day, the service was discontinued. The message was gone.
He later said losing her voice a second time felt unbearable.
At the memorial, he listens for a particular chime.
“That’s my daughter,” he says.
Honor Elizabeth Wainio’s story is not only about how she died.
It is about how she chose to live her final minutes.
She had just seen Paris. She had just lit a candle for her grandmother. She had plans. She had momentum. She had a future.
And when the worst moment imaginable arrived, she did not ask for comfort.
She gave it.
In a day remembered for smoke and terror, there were also phone calls filled with grace. There were strangers who became allies. There were ordinary people who refused to surrender quietly.
Thirty thousand feet above the earth, a young woman chose love over panic.
And because of people like her — frightened, human, brave — history shifted.
We remember her.
We remember all forty.

[Paxtyn Gonzales @Paxtyngonzales2]

A couple hits from the playoffs during high school ball. @JagBaseball16

[Heritage Baseball @JagBaseball16]

It’s not where you start, but where you finish. Thanks for recognizing the Jags! @5ATxHSBaseball

[✭Five Tool Texas✭ @FiveToolTexas]

.@DTigerBaseball Trojacek's Paxtyn Gonzales (@Paxtyngonzales2) hits it down the right field line for a double.

Midlothian Heritage (TX) 2028 #uncommitted

Profile: https://t.co/zc3wNX2YiS

[Heritage Baseball @JagBaseball16]

Outstanding group of young campers this year!!The future is bright for the Jags!

[✭Five Tool Texas✭ @FiveToolTexas]

.@DTigerBaseball Trojacek's Paxton Gonzales (@Paxtyngonzales2) with a single up the middle.

Midlothian Heritage (TX) 2028 #uncommitted

Profile: https://t.co/zc3wNX3w8q

[✭Five Tool Texas✭ @FiveToolTexas]

.@DTigerBaseball Trojacek's Paxtyn Gonzales (@Paxtyngonzales2) barrels a single to right field.

Midlothian Heritage (TX) 2028 #uncommitted

Profile: https://t.co/zc3wNX2YiS

[Heritage Baseball @JagBaseball16]

Congrats to Paxtyn Gonzales for being voted 2nd Team All District 2B!!

[Midlothian ISD Athletics @MISD_Athletics]

The @JagBaseball16 2026 season came to an end in the Regional Final. This team made HISTORY & gave us a season to remember.
Thank you Seniors for your dedication & heart. You will be missed.
🏆 Bi-District Champs
🏆 Area Champs
🏆 Regional Semi-Final Champs
🏆 Regional Finalists

[Heritage Football @HeritageFtball]

Great job boys! Way to compete.

On to the next round.

S/o to 2028 ATH @Paxtyngonzales2 showing up big for the jags in last night’s win.

Multi-sport athletes at Heritage!

#Scrap #WinnerWin #GD2BAJ

[Heritage Baseball @JagBaseball16]

Jags beat Prosper WG 3-2 in 9 innings to punch their ticket to the REGIONAL FINALS

Edwards and Shaw were unbelievable combining for 9IP, 2ER, 9Ks.

Paxtyn Gonzales 3-5, 3 RBIs
Penberthy 4-4, 2B
Huber 2-5, 2B
Hernandez and Johnson also had hits
@5ATxHSBaseball @MISD_Athletics

[Heritage Baseball @JagBaseball16]

📣📣📣Game changes!📣📣📣 Playoffs game locations have changed! Jags will play at Heritage field on Wednesday before heading to Prosper Walnut Grove for Game 2 on Thursday! ⚾️ Come pack the stands, wear red, and cheer on the Jags! Game 3 if needed on Friday at The Colony HS.

[Heritage Baseball @JagBaseball16]

Jags are Bi-District Camps!!!!

Beat Belton in Game 2, 9-1.
Edwards CG shutout!!
7IP, 3 Hits, 0 runs, 6 Ks
Abila 3-4, 4 RBIs
Penberthy 3B

Won Game 3, 7-2
Seabourn complete game!
7IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 7 Ks
Abila 2-4, 2 RBIs
Gonzales 2-4, 2B
@5ATxHSBaseball @MISD_Athletics

[Heritage Baseball @JagBaseball16]

Jags lose in 9 innings to Ennis 4-3

Roberson and Shaw pitched very well
Paxtyn Gonzales 2-4, RBI
Noe Hernandez 1-1, 2 RBIs
Huber, Abila, and Mitchell all had hits.

@5ATxHSBaseball @MISD_Athletics

[Heritage Baseball @JagBaseball16]

Jags lose to Crandall 1-0.
Paxtyn Gonzales 2 hits

@MISD_Athletics @5ATxHSBaseball

[Heritage Football @HeritageFtball]

Awesome game boys!

Shout out to SO. @Paxtyngonzales2 and JR. @BraydenNewman23 for helping in a big win last night.

Dual Sport Athletes!

#FIGHT #GD2BAJ

[Heritage Baseball @JagBaseball16]

Congrats to sophomore Paxtyn Gonzales for being the Adam Rope State Farm Player of the Week!!! ⁦@MISD_Athletics⁩

[Heritage Baseball @JagBaseball16]

Jag baseball opening car doors and greeting elementary students again this week! Serving others…proud of these guys!
@MISD_Athletics

[Heritage Baseball @JagBaseball16]

Varsity Jags beat Midlothian by a score of 11-1.
WP - Edwards 5IP, 5 Ks, 1 ER
Mitchell 2-3, 2 2B, 2 RBI
Reyes 2-3, 3B, 2 RBI
Gonzales 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI
Huber 3B, RBI
@MISD_Athletics @5ATxHSBaseball

[Heritage Baseball @JagBaseball16]

Varsity Jags lose to Midlothian 6-3

Flaherty 3IP, 0 runs

Huber, Gonzales, and Johnson all had 2B
@MISD_Athletics @5ATxHSBaseball