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down. I sent Edgar with the limousine to meet them.”
    “ Excellent, it’s always great to see my godson.”
    About a month after 9/11, Fireman Keith Tompkins, the man who saved De Niro’s life on 9/11, received a call from De Niro thanking him for his heroism. Tompkins told him it was all part of the job but De Niro would have none of that. As he was on the phone, Tompkins’ doorbell rang. De Niro told him to answer the door while he remained on the phone with him. The man at the door identified himself as “Michael Anthony,” (De Niro told Tompkins later he got the idea from the old TV show, “The Millionaire”) and handed Tompkins a letter containing a note of thanks from De Niro. Inside the note was a certified check for one million dollars, tax-free. It took De Niro more time and effort than he thought it would to convince Tompkins that it wasn’t a prank. The two men were close friends ever since, mostly keeping in touch by email, text messages and the occasional phone call. De Niro also made it a point to meet up with Tompkins every year, on September 11. They both attended memorial services down at “Ground Zero,” as it was now known, with other survivors as well as family and friends of victims.
    Tompkins had honored De Niro by naming his second child after him and asking him to be his godfather. De Niro looked forward to seeing young Cris every year and taking him to a Yankees game with his dad. This was the first time that Tompkins and his family were visiting Las Vegas. Tompkins surprised De Niro with the visit and was intending to stay at a Strip hotel, but De Niro insisted that he and his family all stay at Estancia De Niro. De Niro’s brother-in-law Mugsy was staying in the large guest house but he immediately offered it to the Tompkins family and moved into one of the smaller casitas for the duration of their stay.
    De Niro walked into his large kitchen and grabbed two Stella Artois tall neck beers from one of his refrigerators. He popped the caps on both and handed one to his brother-in-law. Both men walked out onto the large patio in the back of the house and sat down at one of the tables. William had assigned Aurelio and his brother Arturo, two of the best cooks on De Niro’s whole staff, to man the two large grills. They were already turning out steaks, chicken, hamburgers and hot dogs. Aurelio’s wife Rosita prepared a variety of Mexican dishes – tacos, burritos, tamales, enchiladas – and she had a fajita station set up along with a table filled with salads, chips, pretzels and dips. To drink, there was beer, wine, sangria, soda, lemonade and water and for dessert there would be ice cream and toasting marshmallows over the grills. Music was playing throughout the whole yard area and Richard and Louis were inviting their friends to change into their bathing suits and join them in their large pool. Some of the other dad’s and the coaches came by and clanked their bottles of beer against De Niro’s thanking him for his hospitality. De Niro was gracious to everyone but he excused himself when William told him that the Tompkins family had arrived.
    “ Mugsy, let’s welcome Keith and Yvonne.”
    “ This is the first time I’ll get to meet them away from the 9/11 services,” Ricci said, as he got up from his chair.
    Both men made it the front door just as Tompkins, his wife Yvonne, his daughter Kendra and his son Cris were walking from the car. The kids ran right past De Niro after giving him a hug, heading for the back.
    “ They heard about the party from Edgar.” Tompkins said as he shook De Niro’s hand. The two men hugged and patted each other on their backs and then Tompkins and Ricci did the same.
    “ The kids are getting bigger every time I see them. I’m gonna be looking up at my godson pretty soon, I think!”
    After kissing and hugging Yvonne, De Niro moved aside to allow Ricci to do the same.
    “ The boys were so excited that you all were coming to visit.”
    “ I