Station nightclub fire tragedy: Shawn Sweet, 28, and the red Mustang

(In February 2003, a fire tore through a rock concert at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, R.I. One-hundred people lost their lives. This is one of the profiles published in The Providence Journal on March 20, 2003)

The red Ford Mustang was more than a car. It was a gift. Charles Sweet wanted to hand the keys to his son Shawn and hear the engine rumble to life like a symphony.

"I wanted to give him something I never had."

So he found a good deal, a car that had been repossessed. He handed the man a check. The man said no. It would have to be cash.

"I said, 'Well, I'll tell you what. Give me five minutes.' I went to the bank and got the check cashed," Charles recalled. "I said, 'OK, my friend, all I want from you is the title and the receipt that the car is paid for.' "

This was for his son, after all.

He remembered Shawn's reaction: "Oh my God, Dad, thanks."

When Shawn was much younger, he had other wants. At various times, there were a hamster, a dove and a canary. One time, he wanted turkeys. His father said a couple of turkeys would be fine. But his son was thinking big.

"So I got these 12 or 13 turkeys," Charles said. "Each one grew to like 30 pounds or so -- and I had 12 of them in my backyard."

This was for his son, after all.

He remembered that Shawn, 28, had many pursuits common to young men. He lifted weights, with some friendly competition from his 24-year-old brother, Daniel. He liked to go skiing in Vermont and New Hampshire. And he was a traveler, visiting the Caribbean, Bermuda, Florida and Las Vegas.

Shawn graduated from Silver Lake High School in Pembroke in 1992 and attended but did not finish studies at both Massasoit Community College in Brockton, and Quincy College. But he did finish the Boston Marathon in 1991.

And those who knew him say he ran his best race up the management ladder of the Stop & Shop supermarket in Quincy, Mass.He started at the store when he was 15. Nearly 14 years later, Shawn was an assistant manager.

"He was known as a real team player who always served as a mentor to newcomers and to others," said company spokeswoman Kelly O'Connor.

While at Stop & Shop, Shawn would regularly call home to see whether there was anything he should pick up for the family. He was always helping; for example, lugging home logs for the family's wood-burning stove.

On Feb. 26, at St. Thecla's Church in Pembroke, Charles and his wife, Carol, attended their son's funeral Mass. Charles estimates that a thousand people came to honor his son's memory, including a soldier who returned from Afghanistan just for the funeral. Five priests, two of them Shawn's uncles, were on the altar.

And the red Mustang? Shawn hadn't driven it for years, growing up and moving on to a different car. The car wasn't really the point.

It was about Charles and his son, after all.

"I walk outside and I keep thinking, 'When is he coming home?' "