“The Families”: A 9/11 Anthology About Resilience, Gratitude And Love

Of 2,977 lives that were lost at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, the company that suffered the greatest single toll was Cantor Fitzgerald, which lost all 658 people who were working on floors 101 to 105 in the North Tower.

Nearly 1,000 children lost parents that day and 38 pregnant wives became widows.

Each of the company’s families has a story.

The editors of “The Families,” Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund co-founder and president Edith Lutnick and Relief Fund General Counsel Caroline Aiken Koster, compiled personal essays by those who lost loved ones on 9/11.

Edith is the sister of Howard Lutnick, who was then the chairman and CEO of the company and is now the Commerce Secretary in the Trump Administration. He was not in the WTC that morning because he was brining his son to his first day of kindergarten. Edith and Howard lost their younger brother Gary on 9/11.

The anthology shares stories of love, loss, resilience, gratitude, healing, service, and hope.

Aside from the essays, the book includes historical photographs of the WTC, Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund assistance in the aftermath, WTC steel and memorial, rebuilding, and this generation’s disaster relief efforts honoring those lost.

Koster explained how the book came about: “In the early years, on our September 11 Charity Day when I would ask people—athletes, actors, colleagues—’Where were you on 9/11?’ they would say things that sounded familiar. They were at work, taking their kids to school. As the years went on, they said, ‘I was in high school history class, middle school, preschool,’ and then eventually, ‘I wasn’t born yet.’”

The attorney realized that the story and the remembrance of September 11th were in jeopardy of being lost and approached Edith Lutnick, about an anthology to get the words of the families out there.

Lutnick agreed, saying: “As the 25th-year was coming up, my thoughts, as always, were how will our loved ones be memorialized? How can we take the lessons learned from 9/11 and apply them in a positive way going forward?”

She suggested contacting their families to write essays about their journeys over the last quarter century. “Anything they wanted to say. We didn’t give them direction, but the one thing we asked was to include a lesson or words of wisdom for the next generation.”

The essays that poured in were powerful, poignant, and important, not only to the families and the next generation, but to anyone who has suffered loss and grief and is looking for a blueprint on how to get through it.

“We received 176 essays. And we put every single one of them in this book,” says Lutnick. Adds Koster, “There is a beautiful array of types of writing” spanning three generations.

Lutnick points to the book’s table of contents, saying that the lessons showed up in essays’ titles: “Enjoy every moment.” “Appreciate everyone around you.” “Love deeply while you can, because time is never guaranteed.”

The editors crafted the book so that readers can open it at any point and be inspired. “You can find yourself in it at any page,” says Koster. It just depends on where you are in your journey and what you need and want to hear at that moment.

About The Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund, a 501(c)(3) charity, Koster says, “We honor the families on the day, and honor their legacy every day, but the financial contributions to them are long over. We support between 150 and 180 charities a year in addition to our disaster relief efforts.”

Says Lutnick, “It’s a privilege to do it.”

“The Families” is available in paperback on Amazon. A hardcover collector’s edition is available through The Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund. One hundred percent of the book’s sales profits go to the Relief Fund’s charitable mission.