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Things Were Going So Well

Last Tuesday was Ivhan Luis Carpio Bautista's day off at Windows on the World. It was also his birthday. But with an extended family back in Peru depending on his paycheck, Mr. Carpio, 24, did not hesitate when a co-worker called that Monday night asking if he would cover a shift. "He worked all the overtime he could," said a cousin, Rita Tatiana Palacio. "Too many people needed the money, including a niece whose school he paid for."

In the two years since arriving in New York speaking only Spanish, Mr. Carpio had made enviable strides. His English was nearly fluent, he had found the perfect job and last month had moved into his own place, having previously shared an apartment with his cousin in Queens. The day before the attack on the twin towers, he learned that he had been accepted to John Jay College of Criminal Justice. It was a day of triumph, as he had been uncertain whether the school would accept credits from his two-and-a-half years of law school in Peru. "He was so excited, so happy," Ms. Palacio said. "I remember him saying how he was so lucky, that everything was going to be so good from now on."

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on September 26, 2001.