For more than 3,000 children who lost parents on 9·11, the events of that day will forever impact their lives. But now that 14 years have passed, many of those kids have grown into adults who bear their “9·11 kid” label. “We work with young people in order to not limit them, but to provide a platform for growth and a vision for their future,” said Terry Sears, director of Tuesday’s Children, an organization founded to promote the healing of those affected by the attacks. The average age of the 3,051 children whose parents were killed was 8 years old, which means “those kids are in college, or have just graduated and are launching their careers,” Sears says.
But while that “9·11 kid” label can be limiting, it can also be motivating, says Robbie Pycior, 22, a firefighter who is getting a master’s degree in social work. His father was killed 14 years ago. “Being a 9·11 family member, I have an experience that isn’t valuable to the work that I do. If my friends introduce me to someone, do I want them to say ‘This is Robbie, his dad was killed in a terrorist attack’? No, that’s not who I want to be,” he said.
As he’s been able to get more distance from that day, Pycior says he’s become better equipped to cope with his own suffering, and in turn has been inspired to give back to others who may have similar trauma. “I didn’t deal with my loss for several years. I would take my chair, put it in a corner and stare at the wall,” he says. “As I got older, I decided to get involved in helping others. I am helping others to help myself, so over the years it has turned this loss from a negative to a positive.”
Pycior says he hopes to work with the Tuesday’s Children program Project Common Bond, which brings together teens from around the world who have lost a family member from terrorism.
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