Rebecca Kress lived in St. Michael in 2001 and was preparing to deliver her first child in the end of September when life took a dramatic turn. She went into labor, and while waiting to give birth watched the tragedy of the terrorist attacks on 9/11 unfolding on a hospital television.
Kress had her daughter Madeline that fateful day and on Saturday she turns 20-years old. What is it like when one of the best days of your life happens to fall on one of the most traumatic days in U.S.
history?
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“Certainly it was a very strange day to say the least,” Rebecca Kress told the WCCO Radio Morning News. “She was actually three weeks early too. So we were not expecting anything to happen that day with her birth. I ran daycare at the time, so it just was a very surreal day taking care of children, preparing for her early birth, and watching everything unfold around us. “
For Maddie, throughout her life she has celebrated a birthday that lands on that infamous date, something she says she will never forget.
“You know, I go to the pharmacy and they asked for my birthday, I go to the doctor or someplace and it gets a reaction out of everybody,” Maddie explains. “They're always like, wow, that's crazy. Or, wow, that's so sad. “It's not sad for me, but I completely understand where they're coming from when they say that.”
Maddie also says reaching this 20 year milestone feels more important.
“It's definitely different this year,” she said. “Because 20 is a big year and I'm sure it'll be big one 30 years later, and 40 and 50 and so on. So, I’m just kind of taking it all in.”
For those of Maddie’s generation or younger, there is a different understanding and feeling around 9/11 than those who experienced that day. Maddie told WCCO’s Sloane Martin that she’s always trying to learn more about the events that took place the day she came into the world.
“Well, for my class, they were alive, but they don't remember obviously,” Maddie said. “So when we're all learning about it, we're all kind of at the same point. And it's really interesting to hear about and just realize that that's what people were going through just as I was starting my life. I'd say I'm very interested in learning more about it. Every single time I have the opportunity, I learn new things. So I would say it's very beneficial.”
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Maddie’s mother Rebecca has also had to go through the last 20 years explaining to people why September 11th is a celebration each year.
“People, when they ask her birthday, or why we're celebrating on this day, it's very duplicitous because you want to be excited and it's celebratory,” Kress said. “And on the day, I struggled with that. It was a range of emotions and still is. I really have made an effort to make sure we celebrate and don't let it overshadow her birthday. However, we've always been very respectful of the day and of the people's lives that are lost. So we try to balance that as much as possible as we all move on with our lives. We try to balance our regular lives with the trauma of that day”
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