Although her

brother died in the collapse of the World Trade Center weeks ago, Mary

Lynch of Peachtree City takes comfort in knowing he was there doing what

he loved to do.

She is also

comforted by the help of friends and neighbors here who baby sat her two

daughters, fixed meals and raised money so she could fly home quickly.

Michael Boyle,

37, had just gotten off a 24-hour shift as a firefighter in New York City

when a fire call came in for one of the skyscrapers Sept. 11. He was on

the phone with his girlfriend of more than three years at the time, and

he told her, "I'm going to jump on the truck."

Boyle sped

away with his fellow firemen and made it up to the 31st floor before an

FBI officer told the firemen to evacuate the building, Lynch said. Boyle

was believed to have been between the lobby and 10th floors when the building

collapsed, according to a report filed by a lieutenant who managed to

escape the collapse alive, Lynch said.

All seven members

of Boyle's company died, she added.

"It's

sad that he had to go, but that's the way he wanted to go," Lynch

said Friday morning. "That was what he loved, being a fireman."

Lynch's father,

who was a New York firefighter for years himself, went to the scene after

witnessing the first tower collapse and tried to find his son. Later,

the family found Boyle's wallet and keys still in his locker as if he

had never left the station house.

Since that

fateful day, Lynch has made two separate trips to New York once with her

two daughters, Amanda and Diana, and once with her husband, Brendan. She

visited the remains of the building along with family members of other

missing firefighters who responded to the scene.

"It looks

like another country," Lynch said, explaining that the rubble appeared

as if it was from a war zone. "I wanted to do it. I felt the need

to get some closure, or something."

Lynch last

saw her brother about a week before the tragedy. Boyle had a layover at

Hartsfield International Airport on his way to Florida for a vacation.

They had breakfast together before he flew out.

Boyle also

had another layover on his return trip, but he didn't tell his sister

until he got on the plane, reasoning that it was too late at night to

meet and it was her husband's birthday.

"I was

so mad at him for that," Lynch said, admitting that her brother was

just being thoughtful.

While Lynch

is still coping with the loss of her brother, she said she is strengthened

The Peachtree

City Running Club raised money to help her fly back home and be with family.

A coworker at Shadows Restaurant, Patty Schweer, helped organize dinners,

arrange for baby-sitters and stopped by often.

"That

was really nice because we don't have family down here," Lynch said.

"People here have been very supportive. I don't know how I could

have gotten through it without them. Everybody has been so great."

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