My fathers elder sister, Sue Riddle Cronkite, sent to me these wonderful pictures and story of  her granddaughter  Emily playing solo flute at this years past memorial at Ground Zero in New York City. We are very proud of her and thought it appropriate to share with you all, and also in remembrance  of our fallen heroes then and  just recently at Ft. Hood.

Thank you Aunt Sue, and also a big thank you to Emily for her continued contributions to the world!

Your loving Nephew and cousin, T. Michael Riddle

Hi,

I’m also attaching the speech Emily made to a Turkish organization in New York. It is very well written.
Cutline which ran with picture in the Apalachicola Times:
“Emily Thomas, 24, was called away from a visit to her grandmother Sue Riddle Cronkite, of Apalachicola, FL, on Sept. 10, 2009, for a special assignment. The flautist, who earned a mastrer’s in music from The Julliard School in 2008, had just started home to Birmingham, AL, when she received a call to play at New York City’s 9/11 ceremony at Ground Zero. So she flew out of Tallahassee and arrived there in time to play J.S. Bach’s Four Sonatas, BWV 1034 and 1035 for flute and Basso continuo and BWV 1030 and 1032 for flute and obbligato harpsichord, at the ceremony.”

T. Michael's 2nd cousin Emily Thomas, I am very proud of her and her accomplishments

Emily had moved from New York City to stay with her parents in Birmingham until March, when she plans to go to Los Angeles. In addition to her work as a musician, Emily is an actress with some impressive plays and short movies in her resume. The reason she could be called the day before the ceremony was because she had played at Ground Zero twice before. She already had clearance and could get there. A group of bagpipers from Scotland had been scheduled but because of the weather the contact at the mayor’s office said they weren’t sure the bagpipers would make it on time. Emily played before and while the names of those who died on 9/11 were being called out. The fellow to the right in the picture rang the bell after each person’s name was called.
Michael, you have another cousin, Ashley Owens, Chuck and Sissy Owens (Monette Mims Owens and Max Owens, granddaughter) already in California working as an actress. I’ve got her phone number, and am not sure exactly where she is, but I think it’s much farther south than you, somewhere around LA.
Hope I haven’t overloaded you with information, as is my habit.
I also added Emily’s bio.
Love,  Aunt Sue

Emily with Mayor Michael Bloomberg