10 Years After 9/11

What's changed in your life since that most beautiful and terrible September morning?

I got a phone call that morning from a friend who told me to turn on the TV because we'd been attacked. I turned it on to see the Twin Towers smoking. "Osama Bin Laden," I said, "It can't be anyone else."

"Who?" My friend responded.

For so many people, 9/11 changed everything. Not just the families who lost their loved ones, but the continuing ramifications of deployments, wars, and security. The biggest change in my life since 9/11 was the birth of my children. They will never know the pre-9/11 world, just as we have no idea what the pre-Pearl Harbor world felt like.

My oldest is seven, he's old enough to see the pictures of the aftermath of the terrorist attacks and understand that something bad happened. I don't know if I'm ready to have the conversation with him about what happened on that day and how our lives will never be the same. This is the only world he's ever known.

I was struck by this story on Windows On the World, the restaurant at the top of the North Tower. You'll watch the story of Farqad, the first baby born to a 9/11 widow after the attack. It's beautiful. Watch it.

Tell me about your memories and how you're talking about 9/11 with your children.