New York City, USA; September 11, 2014

On September 11, 2001, I was late to work. In line at a post office in mid-town, I overheard someone say that a plane had hit one of the twin towers.  I snuck into my meeting and we were quickly interrupted by news that a second plane had hit.  We ended the meeting and I walked across the hall to a conference room where through the windows, with a clear view of downtown Manhattan, I watched the unspeakable unfold.

My husband lost three of his closest friends that day.

Our world is forever changed.

I wake up each year on this day and find it hard to breathe.  I look over at my husband and worry about how he makes it through another anniversary.

More recently, I find myself wondering how we should explain the whole story to our son.  He had seen references to the planes crashing into the towers in a Manhattan fire department museum, but we hadn't told him everything.  When I think about how to raise a global citizen, perhaps there could be nothing more important than getting this right.

A couple of weeks ago, when out on a bike ride in Westchester, we came across this memorial at the Kensico Reservoir. We had never seen it.  Michael started to figure it out. He said to me, "Mommy, all these people have different birthdays, but they all died on the same day, September 11, 2001."

We reminded him of those planes that hit the buildings in New York City and that the anniversary of the date was approaching.

Last night, James again reminded Michael that the anniversary of September 11th was coming up.  He showed him this photo, which sits on a shelf above our TV, and pointed out the three friends whose lives were lost.

Today, they discussed the "attacks" in Michael's first grade class. After school, I showed him photos of the towers before and after the planes hit.  We talked about the way the attackers felt about America and a bit about why they felt that way. Michael seemed bemused by the idea that those behind the attacks died in order to carry out their plan.  Finally, we talked about ways that Americans can help to show people in other countries that we do care about how life is in their corner of the planet.

I imagine that today marks the first of many conversations we will have with Michael about the true scope of events that occurred on September 11th.  He wants to see the memorial and know more about his daddy's friends who died.  We have been searching for other ways to introduce him to what that day was like and how he can influence the future.  The 9/11 memorial website has a reference guide for talking to children. We have also previewed a book in the "I Survived series" about the attacks of September 11th, which seems to be written on his reading level.

So, today we opened a door for the difficult conversation with our child about the reality of September 11th.  We can continue to share with him the events that transpired that day and the weeks, months and years to follow.  Perhaps more importantly, we can help him to realize how much the individual and collective actions of the American people matter and consider what he can do.  Who knows, maybe one day he will think back to his experience at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo and realize his aspirations to become a nobel laureate "who is brave and helps people."