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THROUGH THEIR MUTUAL LOSS, A COUPLE FINDS LOVE FOR EACH OTHER

Through their grief, they found comfort – and eventually, something more.

After the attacks on the World Trade Center claimed their spouses, Nick Chiarchiaro and Cheri Sparacio struck up a lasting bond over what they’d lost. Their relationship blossomed into romance – and landed both of them side by side on a memorial-service platform for the solemn reading of victims’ names last year.

“As a friend of mine who’s a priest said, ‘God closes one door and opens up another,’ ” Chiarchiaro said yesterday, standing with Sparacio and her twin sons after leaving the ceremony marking the sixth anniversary of 9/11.

“We both share a common emptiness, and we both understand what we’ve gone through, what we’re going through,” added Chiarchiaro.

Sparacio said, “I meet people all the time [who say things like], ‘When are you gonna stop crying?’ or ‘When are you gonna get out of bed?’ ”

Chiarchiaro lost Dorothy, his wife of 40 years and the mother of his kids, as well as his niece, Dolores, in the attacks on the Twin Towers. They were working at Fred Alger Management in the north tower.

Sparacio, a Staten Island mother of two 8-year-old boys, lost her husband, Tom, who was a currency trader for Eurobrokers.

The pair met at a meeting for the Victims Compensation Fund. They became part of a group of close friends who’d lost loved ones and called themselves the September Seven.

It was from that friendship that Sparacio and Chiarchiaro became a couple.

“We’re very comfortable,” Chiarchiaro, 65, said, praising Sparacio as smart, fun to be around and a cook who whips up terrific meals.

“It just seemed to be a natural movement . . . we refer to her husband, Tom, often. We refer to my wife, Dorothy, often. We refer to them with [Sparacio’s kids, Eric and Jonathan].”

This year at the site was “thankfully lighter,” Chiarchiaro said. “Maybe the time from then to now has allowed us all to mentally heal a bit.”

For Sparacio, 42, it presented a new challenge – the first time she brought her boys. They left pictures of their dad at the bedrock of Ground Zero, and Jonathan hugged his mom amid tears.

“I didn’t realize how emotional it would be that we could only go down there for the last time. I kind of felt like it was the last time I was going to see him,” Sparacio said of her husband.

By yesterday afternoon, Chiarchiaro kept his focus on the future. “You can’t change what transpired,” he said. “My dad used to say, ‘You’re above ground, be happy.’ And Cheri and I are happy together.”

maggie.haberman@nypost.com