Rocking, praying, and watching

By Stacie Gorkow: I remember that morning as clear as day. I was sitting in the rocking chair, feeding our 6-week-old and watching our 1-year-old play. My husband and brother-in-law were installing a patio door onto our house.

So it was chaotic, but I was watching FOX News and heard them say a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I remember telling the guys to come in and look and then watching the coverage. Then watching, live, as the second plane crashed.

I remember holding both my boys close and wondering what was going on. I remember being scared for several family members who worked in the Pentagon at the time, as we learned about it being hit. I remember rocking and praying and holding our two boys. It was a very emotional day.

As new parents, it was scary wondering how we could protect our children if something happened here. I remember thinking of all the parents who were trapped on planes and in buildings and wouldn't come home to their children that night or ever.

Since then, my husband and I have traveled to NYC and visited Ground Zero and in the summer of 2010 we took our family to Shanksville, Pa., to visit that site. It is something that will always be tied to our generation and our children's, and I want them to know what happened and the heroes that were part of that day and the days after 9/11.