I don’t need to tell anyone what day it is today. Who can forget that day that changed the world and forever altered the way we view peace?
But on the last “normal” September 11, we welcomed a third child into our family…
…all 8lbs 6 oz of him…the little dumpling…Cooper arrived just 2 hours before his due date..unlike his siblings who arrived two and three weeks early. We like to joke that Coops has always liked to be cozy…and personally I think he would still be in there if he could fit! My biggest snuggler for sure.
I painted each of the kids a little rocking chair for their FIRST birthdays and Cooper, being a total “TRUCK” boy had his painted with yellow dump trucks.
I gave it to him early on the morning of his birthday – never in my life dreaming that these photos would mark the “before the nightmare started” part of his birthday..when we were blissfully unaware that there were monsters in the skies…and all we had to do was climb into a rocking chair…..
I remember standing in the bakery, after I retrieved the kids from school, after I spent hours glued to the television, crying with the phone glued to my ear..alternately speaking to my Mom, my Sister in law and my best friend.
I stood staring at the freshly decorated cakes behind the glass…but all I could see were the buildings falling down…the horror of it all…then like my mirrors reflection, I caught the eye of a woman across the bakery….dazed and distracted…, somehow our eyes met and she said
“It’s my daughter’s 6th birthday…I feel so conflicted..this all feels so weird”.
I agreed…saying “This is my youngest sons First Birthday…he won’t even know if I don’t buy him a cake. We could just skip his Birthday cake…but his siblings won’t understand” …
…and so I guess…we both took our children a Birthday cake.
Today we celebrate a very important day in our family and we honor those whose lives were changed beyond recognition…on that beautiful day in September.
Thank you Cooper for giving us such joy…
Life beats on. We never forget. Babies are born. We will always remember. People pass away.
And Kids grow up…MY “BABY” is 14!!!
Heaven Help me…
We are Blessed.
13 yrs ago our son was ( and still is ) stationed at Fort Hood Texas….sweet little Koby was born that day…during the tragic time…the entire base was locked down…Mama’s step daddy stepped outside of the hospital to smoke and was not let back in while the lock down was in force. this was BEFORE all of us even had a cell phone…Tanja had the baby…Daddy was across the base…a lockdown means you are WHERE you are no matter WHAT…12 HOURS later he holds his baby…papa gets in…and considered giving up smoking….he spend the day in the courtyard of the army hospital…our lives were forever changed that day…our son went to IRAQ twice and nearly died by an IED…he will never be the same…their marriage ended with the stress of war….Sweet BABY Koby is now a teenager…We did not loose a family member that day…but we lost life as we knew it….it is a sobering day for everyone….Happy Birthday Cooper…
This is an incredible story…hear wrenching and hopeful, thank you for sharing. xo
Thank you so much for posting this! My son, Everett, was born on September 11, 2012. I struggled with that for almost two years. Yesterday I took the day off work and we celebrated like crazy. I wanted him to know how special he really is. I feel like I (and eventually Everett) have been burdened with having to work a little harder to find the happiness in his birthday. But… I suppose I’ve also been given a gift: a different and positive perspective. While I had no control over his birthday (not my job!), I am somehow proud it happened on September 11th. What better way to balance out the evilness and destruction than to bring a new life into the world. Like you said, Life goes on. Babies are born! We will always remember!
Everett is perfect and beautiful. He is my light and my joyful reminder, especially on 9/11, that life is so precious and unpredictable. And have I mentioned he’s adorable and healthy? How fortunate am I to have a perfectly healthy boy? Like the other thousands of babies with a 9/11 birthday, Everett was a true gift from above. I feel like God’s saying, “Here you go, mom. A new life. Treasure and love him and believe there is good in the world.” Will do, thanks! 😉
Thank you for sharing and it is INDEED and special birthday…I LOVE the name Everett!!! TWO is a great age!!! have fun! xo