Here are excerpts from a biography that John Titus is writing of his daughter.

Alicia's Early Years
Learning Life's Lessons
Blossoming Into Womanhood

Poem by John Titus

Soulful beauty, Essence of love
Joyous elation, Inspired from Above
The embodiment of spirit so full and pure,
Gentle, sweet nature, always so sure.

Direct with truth, could not tell a lie
Taken so young and God we implore you “Why?”
What is the purpose, the meaning, the good
Of her premature death, not understood?

Her joy, contagious; Her heart was grand
Peace and nonviolence, Love thy fellow man
Do no harm nor cause pain to another
Her gentle, true spirit came from her mother

Of late, she blossomed like a beautiful flower
It seemed so pronounced in her final hour.
Her laughter, her smile, could light up a room
Passersby on the street proclaimed this, too

Her message is clear for the world to know
Love one another and the feeling will grow.
Forgiveness is divine and so misunderstood
Let there be Peace on Earth, Always strive to do good.

By: John Titus ~ Alicia's Dad

Alicia, her dad John & baby nephew

It's Christmas, your favorite time of the year. The tree is up, Shanoa and Logan, Zac and Lana, and Eli are all home, but you're still missing! We decorated the tree and dad helped wrap presents this year, we had mimosa's, but you're still missing! We took a family ski trip and everybody had a fun time, but you were still missing. It will never be the same without you in our lives no matter how hard we try to get on with life, no matter how hard we try to feel the joy of the season, you are still missing! Since 9/11 I have been trying to figure out how to live my "new life". Without you, my heart just keeps on aching no matter what I try. You came into my life at a time when I was completely lost and feeling useless. You gave my life purpose which gave me hope for a better tomorrow, a better world. You graced my life with your presence, your joy and your loving smile. Your life wrapped mine like a warm fire on a cold winter's night. I had relaxed into a life with you always in it, but now you are missing! I have seen your loving face smiling upon us these last few days and I know you are with us and that your spirit will live on always, always, but you're still missing! Reality BITES...with such a grip, such a strong hold at times it feels easier to just dissolve than to fight my way back, and then I think of you. I think of your life and your struggle, constantly searching for answers, looking for more options, exploring new ideas and new directions. I remember your passion for living and your determination to always, always find a better way to live that would bring you hope for a better world and give you a sense of peace in your everyday living. I will always always remember the joyful sound that your life has played upon my heartstrings!! Even though you are still missing, I will live my life following your example, I will continue to tell myself the things that I need to hear and do the things that I need to do so that when I feel like giving up, I will just hop back up, dust myself off and get back into battle, in a peaceful way. I love you my Lish and I love the way you chose to live your life, and I am so honored to have been able to help bring you into this world, mothering you as a child, and continuing to love and nurture you as an adult. I am also blessed to have received the same love and nurturing from you. You had such an incredible way of making everybody in your life feel so special, so important, so loved. I see the outpour of love since 9/11 and realize your are still making the same impact even though your still missing. I love you my sweetheart with all that I am!!!! Always, Always... Mom

This was the NYTimes article about Alicia -

Alicia Titus: Everyone Was a Favorite
April 28, 2002

Greg Ernst remembers Sunday, Sept. 9, when he and his girlfriend, Alicia Titus, had been together for nine months. "It was the first time we told each other we loved each other," he said. Soon after they had started dating, she had told him she demanded happiness. Not from him, but from herself.

Her father, John Titus, said his daughter, 28, who lived in San Francisco, loved parachuting out of airplanes and backpacking alone in Spain and Morocco. He recalled the laughter-filled cross-country trip she took with her mother in a Volkswagen convertible piled full of stuff. Since January 2001, she had enjoyed being a flight attendant. She was on Flight 175 on Sept. 11.

"You could always count on her being in a happy, joyous mood," said her father, who is writing a book about her so other people can know how wonderful she was. And she had a way of making her numerous aunts, uncles and cousins think of themselves as her favorite, Mr. Titus said.

Mr. Ernst knew that her happiness ran deep. "She laughed in her sleep; that was something I really liked," he said, although they never figured out what she was laughing about. "I'd hear her laugh, and say, `Lish, are you sleeping?' and she was asleep."

Philippe Violette wrote:

I´m sitting here in some internet cafe and don´t know what to think or feel about this. It doesn´t seem real but the pit in my stomach is telling me it is.

Tuesday morning's events seemed to touch everyone - everyone except me. My only New York friend was miles away from the blasts as were each of his friends and acquaintances. The entire chain of events were undoubtedly horrifying but, for me, in a detached Oklahoma City Bombing manner.

Until Now. When was the last time I'd seen her. . .? Not that long ago - about two months to be exact, in San Francisco. Alicia was working as a flight attendant for United, she no longer lived in her favorite city - her base now being Boston. The job ´bored her silly´ but paid the bills, beat the rat race, and afforded her the time and freedom to explore her own set of next steps (ranging from pursuing her artistic talents to enrolling in Grad School). The cool thing about the girl was that although she was lost at times, she was strong enough to admit it and brave enough to look for something better.

Breakfast at Bob's, apples on Geary, Mexican beers, and party preparations gave us the time to catch up and fill each other in from where we'd last left off.

A few days later I received an email from Boston, subject: Possibilities. Half way through, I realized it wasn't merely long, it had been very well thought out. Far from your typical obligatory/arbitrary response, Alicia had taken the time to reflect on our conversation, consider my options, and offer her honest opinion.That email was one of the convincing factors which lead me to follow my heart and head to Central America. We had a very unique friendship, one which on all conscious and tangible plains had been taken away by some MOTHERFUCKERS with a grudge against our country's foreign policy - one that had nothing to do with my friend.

What to make of all this...?
* My Catholic upbringing would have me believe that Alicia was now in heaven.
* My Hindu friends at the Swaminarayan Temple would suggest she had already begun her next life.
* My fundamental Theravada Buddhist beliefs professed she had reached what we are all striving for - Nirvana.

Somehow, I was confident that wherever she was, she was OK. This was comforting - to a point. The thing was, I wasn't OK, nor, I knew, were her friends or family. In a completely self-pitying manner, I felt sick to my stomach. The fact that I'd never open another email titled ´Hey Fly Boy´ hit home and sucked. Big Time.

AT - Nice Pants
PV - Yeah?
AT - Yeah.
PV - Thanks
The best looking girl in 330 Ritch had commented, positively,on my red velvet pants.
PV - What are your thoughts on the glitter?
AT - Not as positive as the pants.
Half an hour later (a month before I was scheduled to take off and begin my travels) I found myself discussing ´A Clock Work Orange´ with a chick that could hold her own in the movie department.
- I´m Philippe
- Hey Philippe, I´m Alicia
- Nice to meet you
- Yeah
We decided to continue our conversation over dinner a week later. The meal was great and the conversation even better - so good that we wound up talking until dawn. About everything:
Bulletproof
Burning Man
Books
Family
Internet Currency
Lush Membership Cards
Asia
Europe
Photography
Ken Starr
Her boyfriend's involvement with the SEC
My girlfriend's involvement with her live-in-boyfriend
Disenchantment with the rat-race
The SF club and music scene

We ended the evening with a hug and a pledge to keep in touch. Thanks to technology, our friendship evolved in a very cool way. Via email, we disclosed our, fears and aspirations. Many topics which, for some reason or another, I rarely touched on with some of my best friends. The best way to articulate our relationship is to analogize it with the super close college friend you no longer have day to day contact with but:
- who you know will always be there for you
- who you don't even bother bullshitting because they will see right through it.
- who, every so often, you meet up with and effortlessly pick up where you left off.

Maybe she was this important to a lot of people. Perhaps she had this impact on everyone she knew - it's certainly possible. Curling up into a ball, only one thing was certain. I´ll miss her.