By Melissa Fleur Afshar

Copyright newsweek

When 19-year-old Ryan Stocker uploaded a short clip to TikTok in July about her parents’ escape from New York City on September 11, 2001, she was just sharing a piece of family history she had grown up hearing.What the Kentucky-based teenager did not expect was for the video to draw more than 8.8 million views, and for many people to share in the comments that they cannot comprehend how an adult could have been born after the tragedy—proving that some in Generation Z struggle with where to place the event in U.S. history.Still, Stocker’s short clip would end up adding to the rich, collective archive of stories that continue to shape how Americans remember the day.At the heart of her post—in which she shared that her mom escaped the World Trade Center’s South Tower—are the voices of her parents, Jamie and Brian Stocker, who still carry vivid memories of how they survived the attacks.On the 24th anniversary of 9/11, Jamie told Newsweek about how the day unfolded and how it has influenced the family’s lives, especially the lives of the couple’s four children—Ryan, Reese, Tighe and Chase.Jamie and Brian met as students at the University of Kentucky, later marrying in the spring of 2001. Brian, a 1997 graduate, had launched a budding finance career on Wall Street. Jamie soon joined him, moving to New York after graduation to work at a top public accounting firm.Just weeks later, Jamie was assigned to an audit project for a client located on the 90th floor of the World Trade Center’s South Tower.Jamie said that the weather on the morning of September 11 was “gorgeous.” She had arrived at the office at her usual time and was just wrapping up an email to a college friend when the room shook violently.Surviving the Towers’ Collapse”I had just finished clicking ‘send’ when I heard what sounded like a loud clap of thunder and saw a light reflect off my computer,” Jamie said. “This big ball of fire came past the window, and I could feel the heat across my forehead.”I ran across my cubicle floor, and the other people we shared the office space with said, ‘Let’s get out of here.'”From his Wall Street office, Brian and his colleagues in the World Financial Center initially underestimated what had occurred.”Everyone thought it was an accident,” he said, in a 2011 retelling of the events. “After the first strike, we actually sat back down and continued the workday.”At the same time, Jamie and her co-workers made for the elevators without hesitation.”We didn’t even look back; we ran,” Jamie said. “We had no idea what happened, but we knew that something wasn’t right.”After we got down to the lobby, we were escorted outside, and we could see smoke billowing up from the other building and stood around in shock. We then heard an explosion and saw our building bursting toward us and took off running into the streets.”Jamie eventually found refuge in a pub, where she used the phone to contact Brian. But, as the minutes stretched into an hour with no sign of him, she began to panic.Brian, meanwhile, had been caught in the debris as the towers collapsed.”As I turned around, I noticed a cloud of concrete dust coming at me,” he said.He tied his shirt around his face to breathe and walked 8 miles through smoke and rubble, listening to passing radios blare unfamiliar words like “terrorist.”For Jamie, who was just 24 at the time and only six months into her marriage, the wait soon turned agonizing.”After about an hour, Brian never showed up,” she said. “I didn’t know where he was and panicked.”Relief came only when the pub’s bartender, who was welcoming anyone stranded in for safety, said that Brian, along with Jamie’s brother—who also worked nearby—had made it to the pub.The three later made it home, in astonishingly good condition considering the tragedy that had occurred around them. The trio updated their family members back in Kentucky of their safety as the day went on.Remembering September 11In the years since, Jamie has often reflected on the fragility of her and her co-workers’ escape.”If I had taken the stairs, if I had been in the ladies’ room, if we had gone to the windows instead of going to the elevator, I might not have been here today,” she said. “To be sitting here breathing in and out is a gift; it’s the ultimate blessing.”She added that her survival has given her Generation Z children a closer connection to the tragedy than many of their peers, who were born after the devastating events occurred.”I think it has made the tragedy more tangible for our children than it would have been otherwise,” Jamie said. “For me, I find myself becoming quite contemplative as the anniversary approaches each year.”It’s not lost on me how lucky I am to have walked away from the day physically unscathed,” Jamie added. “And even mentally and emotionally … There are so many horrific things that I did not witness or experience that day that others sadly did.”That sense of borrowed time, and with her psychological state unharmed, has shaped Jamie’s outlook.”When I remind myself that I am kind of living on borrowed time, it helps me keep the daily worries and stresses in perspective in a completely different way,” the working mom said. “It makes me wonder whether I am making good use of the time I’ve been granted.”I hope I am,” Jamie added.Her strongest memory of the days that followed was not just the grief, but also the unity she witnessed on the streets of New York.”One thing that stood out to me is how the country seemed to find it easier to get along with and care for each other,” Jamie said. “When I look at how ugly things have become in the public sphere over the last number of years—in politics, on social media—I feel like any lesson in unity we had learned in 2001 has been completely lost, and for that I mourn all over again.”For Jamie, the anniversary is not just about survival, but also remembrance and educating the younger generation.”We should also remember that families who were not as lucky as ours continue to grieve the loss of their loved ones,” Jamie said. “We are all just people trying our best in this messy, beautiful world.”Her daughter, Ryan, added: “I am shocked to see how many views my video had. I do think younger people feel as if the event is further in America’s past because we did not live through it, and I hope that people, no matter their age, can reflect on 9/11 in a way that gives it the respect and care it deserves.”