Born on 911?

Hoping this can be one of the first steps to making the idea get out there and reach the familes of eight year olds born on September 11!


http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/jackalope/2010/06/born_on_9112001_phoenix_woman.php

911 Cakeday Vision

I have this idea about making an exhibition for children born on 9-11-2001. I can see it in my mind, but I don't know how to make it happen. I see photographs on a wall, in an uneven fan sort of arrangement. There are ten photographs for each child, one taken on each birthday, as well as the birth photo.

There is text on the wall. A mother's story, a father's story, the birthday child's story. There are questions. When did you first realize that your birthdate meant more to grownups than other dates? There is a live feed of the
children celebrating their 10th birthdays. Yes, it would coincide with the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the attack
of the World Trade Center. I have probably told 50 people about my idea. Everyone has said they thought it was "interesting" or even "a good idea." However, no one has said, "I know just how to make that happen."

A blog was suggested, a wiki, a facebook page. How do these things lead to the exhibit I imagine? Not sure, but Tina's comment
is a first step, the mother of al 911 baby, Makenna, with a story from her first birthday. I loved the details of Makenna's developing sense of awareness about her birthday being special.

I wonder if Tina and Makenna would be interested in the direction I want to go with this idea.

Sharing

One night my husband and I were sitting in our local hangout. The conversation turned to
911. The manager of the restaurant shared with us the story of the birth of his niece. Born on
September 11, 2001 in Montana by C-section "between the towers" it reminded me
of my sister's birth story.

I started wondering about all the children with 911 cakedays. They are soon to be nine year olds.
I thought each of their parents must have a story to tell, each child a story as well.

My sister has shared her birthdate her whole life, with celebration, an anniversary is also celebrated.
When she turned 10, the 10th anniversary of the JFK assassination, when she turned 25, and so on.

When did she realize she shared a birthdate with an anniversary. Do the 911 cakeday children realize it
yet? I wonder how it has changed the way they celebrate? We had parties for my sister and never changed
a thing. Is a 911 birthdate different?

One of the stories that has been told over and over by my mother has to do with the circumstances surrounding the birth of my sister, Anne. She was born by C-section, and my mother says that she while being prepped for the surgery, she saw that the doctors and nurses were crying. She noticed that people were coming in and out of the room, talking to each other in low whispers. She assumed the worst, that something had gone wrong with the pregnancy.

Later that day, November 22, 1963, she found out that at the same time my sister was being born, a national tragedy had been unfolding.....the assassination of our country’s 35th president, John F. Kennedy.