Battery Park Family Hopes to Return to Home Near Trade Center
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The holidays are, no doubt, difficult days for the families with a connection to the World Trade Center. Our Jason Carroll caught up with one family to see how they are doing.</s>JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been a while since people who lived in the shadows of the World Trade Center have been able to come together to smile and rejoice. But Battery Park City --</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The park is crowded today.</s>CARROLL: Is is a community that is slowly coming back to life, one family at a time.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're not going to have the life that we had back, but we weren't ready to just pick up and move somewhere else.</s>CARROLL: Nancy and Kevin Loving, along with thousands of others, fled their homes on September 11th. They are among the few who want to return. But for months, it hasn't been safe.</s>NANCY LOVING, BATTERY PARK CITY RESIDENT: They detected asbestos and fiberglass, so they are doing an abatement.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, bye.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Love you guys.</s>CARROLL (on camera): Do you understand, though, why some people want to leave?</s>S. LOVING: Absolutely.</s>KEVIN LOVING, BATTERY PARK RESIDENT: Oh, absolutely. Yes, it has proven to be very difficult.</s>CARROLL: In such a difficult time, it's hard working in a holiday, or even having the spirit.</s>S. LOVING: Now, on to the Christmas list. Let's try get happy. I know it's hard.</s>CARROLL (on camera): In combination with everything else that you're dealing with, how do you do that? How does that work?</s>S. LOVING: Well, we've had to -- he's laughing because (ph) --</s>K. LOVING: It doesn't work.</s>S. LOVING: It will work. No, it will work. It will work.</s>S. LOVING: What about puzzles? He really loves puzzles.</s>S. LOVING: There is so much sadness, but at the same time, it is so important, shopping yesterday for some of the Christmas things, it made me happy again. It made me happy, because you know what? It was our opportunity to give, to stop focussing on ourselves.</s>CARROLL: Instead of themselves, the Lovings are focussing on others, namely their three children. Weston (ph), Elise (ph), and Elliot.</s>K. LOVING: Yeah, that's good. That right there. That's good.</s>CARROLL: This Christmas, they made a few ornaments.</s>UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Skipper's, Sonny and, I think, Billy.</s>CARROLL: And added the names of their schoolmates who moved away. By the new year, they should be back in their real home, but they say they already had the best gift of all, each other. Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.