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Michelle Obama marked the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks with an emotional social media post about how the devastating events of the tragic day that claimed the lives of almost 3,000 people caused her to fear for her two daughters’ futures.
The 57-year-old former First Lady took to Instagram and shared some pictures of herself and her husband, 60-year-old former president Barack Obama, comforting survivors and the loved ones of those who lost their lives in the attacks. In her caption, she recalled how she spent the morning of 9/11 with her two young daughters, Malia, now, 23, and Sasha, now 20, and revealed how that day changed her outlook as a mother forever.
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“I spent the morning of September 11, 2001, with my girls in Chicago,” she captioned the post from September 11 this year. “It was Malia’s first day of nursery school — I remember taking her photo, dropping her off for the very first time, and feeling those pangs of separation from my baby. I’d just buckled newborn Sasha into her car seat and was driving back home when I heard the news on the radio — and the uncertainty and anxiety set in almost immediately. What was happening? Had the world just changed? What kind of future were our girls going to enter?
“Each of us, if we were old enough at the time, has our own story from that day. It’s a snapshot — a time capsule — back to a different moment for all of us. For those who lost loved ones, it’s especially painful to relive. My heart goes out to all those for whom this wasn’t just a national tragedy, but a personal one.”
The Becoming author concluded her post by writing about what we can learn from such tragic events: "So today, I hope you'll take an extra moment to mourn, to reflect, and most of all, to remember. It's up to all of us to make sure that we're honoring all those memories that come rushing back by living lives that reflect not just the trauma of that day, but the best that was on display, too: our kindness and compassion, our courage and resilience. They're the values that lifted us up twenty years ago. And I hope they can guide us all, not just on an anniversary like this, but every single day."
As well as sharing the heartfelt and emotional social media post, she and Barack honored the victims by attending a commemorative event at Ground Zero in New York City, whereby the name of every single person who lost their life on that tragic day was read out. They were joined by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, as well as former first couple Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton.
