Daughter of Brentwood 9/11 Victim Remembers Mom's Strength

Sept. 11 was almost 10 years ago, and few Americans thought much about it until Sunday night's announcement that terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden was dead.

But 9/11 was always personal for South Bay management consultant Neda Bolourchi, whose mother, Touri Bolourchi of Brentwood, was killed when terrorists hijacked United Flight 175 from Boston and crashed it into the World Trade Center.

Neda and her family paid thousands and jumped through paperwork hoops to and other 9/11 victims in the grassy median of San Vicente Boulevard at Gorham Avenue.

If you're on the median waiting to cross to or or , look for the big rock with a brass plaque toward the west.

Brentwood Patch spoke with Neda Bolourchi on Monday evening.

Brentwood Patch: Tell us about the plaque.

Neda Bolourchi: I worked about a year trying to get that plaque there.  We paid for this plaque on our own–the family. We go and put flowers on there for her birthday. She loved yellow roses and we always bring those flowers for her.

She was an amazing woman. She spoke six languages, she was a nurse and an amazing mom. She was with my father for over 42 years and they had a wonderful marriage.

They came from Iran during the early part of the revolution because they wanted to give us a better future and a better life. We had to leave everything we loved–our country, our family and all that to come to the United States.

Patch: Does bin Laden's death give you any sense of closure?

Bolourchi: I'm extremely happy. It's an amazing achievement by the government in this long pursuit of this horrible person, and I am extremely proud of the intelligence community and the armed forces that helped and I am incredibly happy.

That's part of what I'm thinking but as I was just telling someone else, knowing that the perpetrators actually perished along with the innocent people, well that gave me a lot of closure. I couldn't imagine them having put people through such pain and misery without actually having died themselves. That was the real closure for me, knowing that the murderers died.

But obviously it was always in the back of my mind that this is not the end of things. So many other people out there are carrying the pain, well… I'm so happy the head of this terrorist system has been brought to justice. My family and I are extremely happy. It's a very joyous day for us.

Patch: What do you like to remember about your mom?

Bolourchi: Her strength. She was an incredibly strong and intelligent woman. I hope I have half of her strength and intelligence. She was not a religious person, but she was very spiritual and her faith in God and love kept her going.

In the beginning, when this happened, I could have gone down the road of hate, praying every day for revenge, but I didn't want to live in that state of hatred.  I would have turned into them–I would have been a terrorist. I can't live my life that way.

But the moment I heard when he was dead, I was very happy.

And I think that she would have been happy too.

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