On September 9, 2006 Brittany and Chandra had ice cream with a reporter from the Chronicle (the local newspaper). He interviewed us about Brittany's birthday and she was featured in the paper! See below:
Mother remembers day daughter was bornDate: September 11, 2006
Chandra Wrzesinski threw a birthday party for Brittany on Sunday, which was complete with cupcakes, presents and a Disney theme. She says she hopes Brittany will realize the significance of her birthday when she grows older. “I’m hoping that she respects the gift that she was given on that day that important things were taken from others,” Wrzesinski said.
As America prepared last week to commemorate the anniversary of the terrorist attacks that defined a generation, Chandra Wrzesinski prepared to celebrate a different occasion: the fifth birthday of her daughter, Brittany. Brittany was born at 7:56 on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, about three hours after two jets plowed into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City.
She weighed seven pounds, five ounces and was 20 inches long. It was a planned Cesarean section at St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, so Wrzesinski knew what her third daughter's birthday would be before she was born.
"I remember thinking it was 9-1-1, but it didn't have the same meaning then," Wrzesinski, who is now the Lewis County jail chief, said.
The Wrzesinski family, which included Chandra's husband Jamie, daughters Aiyana and Kaitlyn, and grandparents and mother from Texas, arrived at the hospital from their Onalaska home at 6 a.m.
At that time, Wrzesinski, then 26 years old, said she knew something had happened on the East Coast involving planes crashing into buildings. But with the excitement and joy of the new birth on her mind, she didn't want any news about the unfolding tragedy.
"I remember one time telling them to turn the TV off unless there's a plane flying into the hospital," Wrzesinski said Saturday during an ice cream break at Baskin Robbins in Chehalis.
She remained in the hospital for three days after Brittany was born, aware of the terrorist attacks but still ignorant of their impact. The reality sunk in a little more when her grandparents, mother and best friend from Montana were stuck in Washington after flights across the country were grounded.
After she came home on Sept. 14, Wrzesinski said she still kept the news off most of the time because she didn't want to hear about the tragedy. Four months later, she returned to work at the jail where she was a sergeant, and she heard many of her fellow law-enforcement officers talking about what they were doing on that day.
But it wasn't until the first anniversary of the attacks that Wrzesinski said she realized how serious and far-reaching those events were. She said she watched a special on television that showed a number of images - including the jets hitting the towers - in a row, and that's what jarred her. Wrzesinski said she'd also become involved in supporting the troops in the war in Afghanistan, which heightened her awareness.
Still, Wrzesinski remembers that first anniversary in terms of the day Brittany came into her life.
"About her first birthday, it hit me how tragic it had been worldwide," she said. "I didn't watch all that the first time."
This year, Wrzesinski said she is planning to attend a Sept. 11 memorial ceremony Monday night at Washington Park in Centralia.
On Sunday, Brittany's birthday party was held, complete with a Disney princess theme, cupcakes and gifts. It's a happy time for Wrzesinski, though she recognizes not everyone may feel that way.
"As everybody is planning to mourn and go to memorial observations, we're planning birthday parties and baking cupcakes," Wrzesinski said. "We approach the day with a totally different perspective."
That perspective is balance, and how the horror of the collapsed buildings and downed flights juxtaposed with the miracle of new life, according to Wrzesinski.
"There's a balance there. There's a recognition that even when bad things are happening, Brittany is a reminder that great things are happening," she said.
"All children are blessings, but Brittany's blessing is that she was that balance, that balance between good and evil," Wrzesinski added.
Wrzesinski has tried to instill the meaning of Brittany's birthday to her daughter, even thought she's still too young to understand everything that happened. Brittany, it seems, has grasped the basics.
"When I was born, bad guys flew planes into buildings," Brittany said.
"What was the good thing that happened?" her mother asked.
"I was born," Brittany replied.
As Brittany grows older, Wrzesinski said she hopes her daughter has an even greater appreciation for the meaning of Sept. 11, 2001.
"I'm hoping that she respects the gift that she was given on that day that important things were taken from others," she said.
Chandra Wrzesinski gave birth to Brittany at 7:56 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001. She knew about the terrorist attacks on the East Coast, but she told hospital personnel to keep the television off in her room.•••
Erik Olson covers county government and environmental affairs for The Chronicle. He may be reached at 807-8239, or by e-mail at eolson@chronline.com. Check out his "County Chat" blog at www.chronline.com under Newsroom Blogs.
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Copyright, 2006, The Chronicle, Centralia WA
Aiyana (with KAYA) ~ Brittany (with TOOTSIE ROLL) ~ Kaitlyn (with her Velveteen)
Kaitlyn: making a wish..and planting a kiss...on her heart.
Brittany is pressing the foot pedal to stuff her bear...
~Aiyana and KAYA~
Aiyana and Kaitlyn giving their newly stuffed BuildABears an "AIR BATH."
