Joshua S. Vitale

Love With No Regrets
Joshua Vitale and Ina Weintraub had been best friends since they were seventh graders in Syosset, on Long Island. Two years ago, when they were 26, Mr. Vitale made a confession as they left the movies. "He said he'd been in love with me for many years and that if he didn't tell me this now he would always regret it," Ms. Weintraub said. "I was so blown away I didn't talk to him for three months."

When the dust settled, the couple's life together quickly fell into place. They got engaged and moved into an apartment in Great Neck, N.Y. Mr. Vitale, who had been a wanderer, a party animal and something of a lost soul for much of his 20's, got a job at Cantor Fitzgerald's trading desk.

"Once we got together it was like we were shooting for the stars," Ms. Weintraub said. "We were so happy."

Two days before Sept. 11, the couple tried to get tickets to the United States Open tennis tournament, without success. "Josh said: 'Forget the Open. Why don't we go to the zoo?' " Ms. Weintraub said. The couple communed with the gorillas at the Bronx Zoo, and then Mr. Vitale, his wandering instincts intact, found a path where they had a picnic together. "There was nothing left unsaid between us," Ms. Weintraub said. "He knew how much I loved him and I will always know how much he loved me."