'Just As The World Was About To Change': Mother Remembers Welcoming Little Girl On Day Of Upheaval
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- When we think of Sept. 11, many of us can quickly recall where we were. Many can do so with vivid detail.
Many of us were doing normal, everyday things -- going to work, sitting in school, having breakfast.
For one local woman, she'll never forget where she was. That's because it's the day her daughter was born, just minutes before the world changed forever.
"My second child was born on Sept. 11, 2001. That memorable day for all Americans. Leah, my beautiful baby girl, chose to come into this world at 8:40 a.m. I went through the wonderful miracle of giving birth to an Angel - just as the world was about to change."
Mary Morosetti reads from a letter that she wrote months after 9/11, when her baby girl was just as old.
"I was actually scheduled to be induced that day. However, at about 4 or 4:30 that day, my water broke," she said. "I didn't even get to hold her. Another nurse had walked into the room and said a plane had hit one of the towers. They turned on the television and the focus was more on the television than on mommy and baby."
With the TV on, as Mary remembers it, she was in a daze of embracing her little girl's first moments of life while the world was in upheaval.
"I remember calling my parents, because they had my son, and I said, 'When are you going to come down and see us? I want to see you guys.' And she said, 'You don't understand. They're closing down downtown Pittsburgh, we can't get to you.'"
Mary and Leah shared their story as the 20th anniversary of 9/11 approached. Mary recalling some of the frightening, unsettling moments after the attacks.
"They took all of us from the maternity ward to the basement," she said. "That was at a point where I said I want to go home. I want to be with my family. It's time."
Leah, meanwhile, is now a beautiful young woman who has grown up knowing the significance of her birthday.
"My family always made it a point for me to know the history of what happened," she said. "Every year on my birthday we would always watch the video of everything that happened. They always made it very clear that my birthday is special, and that I'm special, and that we made it through alive together as a family."
Part of what Leah carries with her, is a listening ear. Her birthday is not just a special day; it's a day so many will never forget.
"I hear tons of stories from people. Bad ones and good ones of course. Some worse than others," she says.
"I put my daughter on a pedestal. I think a lot of mothers do. However, I also wanted her to know that there are a lot of people that fight for us. I don't want her to forget that," Mary said.
Mary ended her letter, written in 2001, to the troops. Thousands, as we know 20 years later, did not return home. Hoping for a brighter, better tomorrow: "I pray, like many others do, that your motivations are swift and concise, that you may come back home and that you will make us feel secure in our homes again."
"If you have no one else to fight for, fight for Leah. Born on a day of trauma for all Americans. She was brought into this world for a reason. I think she is a sign of hope, of future."
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