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The women who gathered with their babies for a photo session in New York this summer looked just like any other group of new mothers.
 But as they chatted, their small talk told a different story: "What did your husband do?" ... "His mom called me right away"... "They found a lot of Frank, right?" ... "I think the hardest part is going to be explaining it to my kids."
The women all lost their husbands on Sept. 11 and gave birth to their children in the months afterward. Primetime had met many of the women in the course of the year, and wanted to bring them together for a photograph to commemorate what for them has been a harrowing year, the joy of their babies' births tempered by the sorrow of their loss.
Going Through Pregnancy Alone
Sixty-one women ended up participating, with two sets of twins making a total of 63 babies - roughly half of the babies known to have been born to Sept. 11 widows.
The 63 babies were a happy sight, but the loss that unites their mothers, of course, was not. In a similar way, while the mothers said their babies had brought them joy, many said that having to go through a pregnancy alone had made their grieving even harder.
"I think he's a gift," said Haven Fyfe of her 1-month-old Parker, "but I did not think being pregnant and being a widow was a gift. I thought it was very cruel." Fyfe had told her husband Karleton that she was pregnant just two days before he died on board American Airlines Flight 11. She went through a long and painful natural childbirth, but said the pain was "a cathartic release for me about the anger that I have about my husband's death."
Katy Soulas said she wishes her husband Tim, who worked for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 105th floor of the World Trade Center, was present at the birth of their sixth child, Daniel, so she could have thanked him for making her a mother. But she said she sensed his presence: "I felt Tim holding my hand. So he was with me."
Many of the women said the single hardest moment of the past year was coming home with their baby, to a home without a father, and then facing the prospect of raising their children alone.
"It would be very easy to just stop," said Patti Quigley, as her baby Leigh gurgled on her lap. "She wakes up at 6, like clockwork, every day, and I can't just let her lie there.... Once I'm up, I'm all right."
The widows, many of whom were meeting each other for the first time, found some solace in coming together. "It's incredible to take in, that so many people are going through the same thing," said Barbara Atwood, whose husband Gerald was a firefighter. "There's some comfort, unfortunately, in that - and there's strength in it."
Rings for Remembrance
For many of the widows, their wedding rings have taken on a special importance.
Terilyn Patrick had celebrated her first wedding anniversary with her husband Jim on Sept. 9. Searchers found his wedding ring lying amid all the destruction at Ground Zero. Patrick plans to give it to her newborn son Jack, who she says already has his father's smile.
(Agencies)
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今年夏天,一群年輕的母親帶著各自的孩子聚集在紐約布魯克林植物園照合影,看起來，她們就象所有剛做媽媽的婦女們一樣普通。
但是從她們的閑話家常中，你還是可以聽出區別。"你丈夫以前是干什么的…""我婆婆剛才還給我打電話了呢……""你看，他長的跟弗蘭克象極了……""我覺得，最困難的事情是如何告訴孩子他爸爸遭遇的一切……"
這些婦女的丈夫在9·11恐怖襲擊中不幸喪生。她們在后來的幾個月內生下了遺腹子。ABC"黃金時段"（Prime Time）節目組在這一年中遇到了許多這樣的婦女，作為9·11周年祭的獻禮節目，他們想要把她們都請到一起，照一張合影，用以紀念這令人痛心的一年，失去親人的痛苦沖淡了嬰兒出生帶來的喜悅。
一個人渡過懷孕期
據統計，世貿遇難者家屬中，約有一百多名孕婦。將近一半人參加了這次活動。61位母親帶來了各自的寶寶，其中包括兩對雙胞胎，所以一共有63個"世貿寶寶。"
孩子們歡鬧的場面是幸福的，然而他們的媽媽獨自承受的喪夫之痛、分娩之苦，是常人難以想象的。 許多母親都認為孩子的誕生給她們帶來了歡樂，但同時也令她們越發地思念自己的丈夫。
哈文·法伊夫的寶寶才一個月大，在她看來，"寶寶是上帝賜給我的禮物，然而成為寡婦、獨自生孩子卻不是禮物，那是十分殘酷的事情"。哈文回憶說，去年9月9日，她欣喜地告訴丈夫自己懷孕的消息，然而他們只高興了兩天，9月11日，丈夫登上了撞向世貿大樓的美航11次航班。從懷孕到痛苦的分娩，她都一個人挺了下來，在她看來，"分娩之痛是喪夫之痛的一種發泄"。
凱蒂·索拉斯的丈夫蒂姆在世貿中心105層工作，凱蒂是多么希望他們的第6個孩子丹尼爾誕生時，蒂姆能夠陪在她身邊啊，"那樣他就能知道，我多想謝謝他讓我再次成了母親"。但她說她依然能感覺到他的存在，"我能感到他拉著我的手，一直陪伴在我身邊。"
大多數母親都承認，最艱難的事情莫過于一個人抱著孩子回到家--冷清的、沒有父親的家，然后，一個人擔負起喂養孩子的重任。
帕蒂·奎格利看著自己的孩子利歡笑著坐在她腿上，說道，"要對付痛苦其實很簡單，孩子每天早上6點準時醒來，象個活鬧鐘，而我總不能就讓她干躺在那兒……所以我只要睜開眼睛，感覺就好多了。"
大部分母親都是第一次見面，她們從彼此之間找到了許多的慰藉。芭芭拉·阿特伍德的丈夫是位消防員，她說，"這個場面令人難以置信，這么多的人在過去的一年中經歷了相同的悲痛，今天，我們大家給予彼此的是安慰和力量。"
最浪漫的戒指
9·11以后，在這些母親的心中，結婚戒指具有了一種特殊的意義。
去年的9月9日，泰莉琳·帕特里克與丈夫慶祝了結婚一周年紀念日。然而，兩天后，心愛的人卻永遠離開了她，留下的只有一枚戒指--救援人員后來在世貿廢墟中找到了。幾個月前，泰莉琳生下了兒子杰克，她將戒指珍藏起來，準備以后傳給兒子--"他現在已經擁有了與爸爸一樣溫暖的笑容。"
（中國日報網站 張楠）
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Updated: 2002-09-06 01:00
