By Bruce Barton

Two Los Altos Hills families had relatives working in the World Trade Center towers when disaster struck Sept. 11. The difference between relief and heartbreak was a matter of location.

Lottie Solomon mourns the loss of her daughter, Naomi, who had the misfortune of being on the 106th floor in the North Tower of the World Trade Center when the first hijacked plane hit it Sept. 11. Naomi was vice president of business development for Callixa, a San Francisco software company. Naomi was attending a business conference.

“It was the worst day of my life,” Lottie said of the tragedy, in a voice overcome with grief. “Her life was snuffed out for no reason at all.”

Lottie described a close-knit, loving relationship with her daughter, who graduated from Gunn High School and Stanford University. The proud parent described her daughter as a high achiever. Naomi graduated with degrees in sociology and education before achieving success in the business world. Despite her busy schedule and a New York residency the past decade, the executive still found time for a daily phone call to mom.

“She called the day before she was killed,” Lottie recalled. “She said, ‘I’ll talk to you tomorrow, Mom.’”

Lottie described her daughter as, “one of a kind - witty, kind, giving, loving …”

The outpouring of support from friends and family has been tremendous, Lottie said.

“It’s incredible - every rabbi in a radius of 30 miles has come by,” she said. “Hundreds of people have come through the house.”

Memorial services were held this past weekend. A public tribute to Naomi’s life is scheduled 3:30 p.m., Oct. 14, at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills.

Pat Daniel, a 30-year resident of Los Altos Hills, on the other hand, is counting her blessings. For her there is tremendous relief that her son Corey survived the World Trade Center catastrophe and is back with his family in Lodi.

Corey was on the 61st floor of the South Tower when the first plane hit the North Tower. He was working as a trainee for Morgan Stanley/Dean Witter.

“He was coming out of the bathroom and he saw all these people in the offices running,” Pat said.

Corey ran down the stairs, encouraging others not to quit running. He was on the 35th floor when the second plane hit, rattling the entire building. But Corey managed to get out before the building collapsed, running several blocks before he could get to a pay phone.

Pat said Corey’s only injuries were blisters on his feet from “running so far, so fast.”

To get home, Corey took a bus from Philadelphia to Oklahoma, then flew home to California. He arrived home the following Sunday.

“After he got out - he went to church,” Pat said.

Corey has two young daughters, Pat said, with a third daughter “on the way.”