September 11th has a special meaning to Boston because two of those fatal flights left from Boston Logan Airport. Personally, before moving here and working at the Globe, I didn’t give much thought to that because of my own personal ties to New York City. We have some really compelling stories in the works from people who have experienced a lot of change or who have never told their story before.
In the meanwhile, we’ve been running other related stories leading up to our big 9/11 package that runs for 8 days beginning next Sunday, Sept. 4.
This story, which was shot by staff photographer Joanne Rathe (while also shooting beautiful stills) and I edited, offers a look into America’s Camp, a youth summer camp in Massachusetts that caters to kids who lost their parents on September 11, 2001. This is the 10th and last year for the camp, so the kids — many of whom were only about 5 or 8 years old at the time — are dealing with the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 and the end of the camp that helped them through so much emotional duress. These kids are so articulate and reflective about what they’ve gone through and how they’ve coped with their tragic losses at such young ages, it was really tough to whittle down.