Axis of Good:
An Unfinished Project
Fostered by Talia H. Rehill
Global migration is not only shaped by borders, but by whose stories are allowed to survive them.
Peter “Pete” Goodrich
(1967 - 2001)
Peter M. Goodrich, a 33-year-old lawyer from Vermont, died on the morning of September 11, 2001. He was a passenger on United Airlines Flight 175—the second plane that struck the World Trade Center. His mother, Sally Goodrich, described the moment she learned of his death as an “obliteration of life.” In her words, “When Peter died, a hole opened in my soul. There was nothing left. I used to pray not to wake up.”
For months after, Sally sank into what she called “a dark abyss.” The loss left her questioning everything, including her faith. But eventually, she began to feel a pull toward something greater. “I knew I couldn't let hate define my life,” she said. “I had to find a way to live again, not just for Peter—but because of Peter.”
“Every time I see a dragonfly, I know Peter is with me,” she said. And after 9/11, Sally Goodrich began to see dragonflies everywhere. “I don’t believe in coincidences anymore,” she told one reporter. “They come when I need them.” For her, the dragonfly became more than a symbol of Peter. It foreshadowed how the soul can leave one place, find another, and still remain whole.
Mapping a Mother’s Migration
That search for meaning in the wake of devastation would become the foundation for everything that followed.
What Happened Next?
The school in Logar stood, built on the belief that love could outlive loss. Sally had done what she came to do.
But then the cancer came back.
When her doctor called, she spoke of it plainly, almost indifferently—listing treatment options as if reviewing groceries. But then her tone changed to resolution.
“I don’t have time to be sick,” she said. “I don’t have time to die.”
“I need another year, at least,” Sally said. “I’ll take whatever treatment I need. I just have to be here—to get as many Afghan kids into this country as I can, and support as many as I can from afar.”
Where once she had prayed to die, now she fought to stay alive—because staying alive meant continuing to serve.
Sarah “Sally” Goodrich
(1945 - 2010)
Sally Goodrich passed away from cancer in December 2010, just after building a girls’ school in Afghanistan in memory of her son Peter. Though she is gone, the ripple of her work continues across continents and generations.
Click below to see where her legacy stands today.