They call them the 9/11 generation. They're the kids who don't remember the assassination of JFK or the explosion of the Challenger as "the" moment when time stood still. They remember only September 11, 2001, when two planes flew into the World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon while a fourth was taken down by heroic passengers into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. And believe it or not, they're the good news of 9/11. There is such a thing.

It almost doesn't seem possible that it's been a decade since the attacks of September 11, 2001. But 10 years have passed, and over that time, there has been a lot of reflection about what occurred that day. So much has been said or written about the tragedies of 9/11 -- some of it political in nature, scientific, or downright patriotic.

Labels aside, writers, news anchors, politicians, and celebrities alike have commented on how that day changed our country forever, re-shaped us as Americans, and what we have learned from that day. Here, some of the most poignant, reflective quotes about September 11th from the past 10 years.

Jennifer Gardner Trulson was a proud mom watching her son put together a puzzle in his new classroom on his first day of school when the first plane hit the World Trade Center on September 11. That night, she and husband Doug were supposed to take son Michael and his little sister, Julia, to dinner to celebrate. But Doug Gardner never made it home to dinner. The executive for Cantor Fitzgerald died in the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

As the 10th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, Jennifer has decided to share the story of trying to put the pieces of her family back together for her young children in a memoir, Where You Left Me. She spoke with The Stir about keeping her husband's memory alive for their kids, her marriage to the kids' stepfather, Derek Trulson, and the challenge of helping her kids deal with their grief even as she comes to terms with her own loss.

John Travolta in Staying Alive (Twin Towers lit up behind him)Even ten years after the devastating 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and thousands of our citizens, the people of New York aren't used to and probably will never get used to their skyline without the iconic Twin Towers. In their day, the Towers seemed to be a permanent fixture on the Lower Manhattan cityscape, even viewable from Uptown and several other vantage points around the city. They are truly missed.

New Yorkers, however, are not the only ones who miss the towers, which made umpteen appearances in Hollywood films from 1972 to 2001. For film buffs who can't get enough of movies filmed in the Big Apple (or even across the water in New Jersey), there is a void that can't be filled either.

My daughter was 100 days old on September 11, 2001. I remember because we were planning to go out to a Korean restaurant that night with family and friends to celebrate (a traditional Korean custom). We lived in Chelsea at the time, over 20 blocks north of the World Trade Center.

We didn't go out to dinner that night. By the time evening fell, the streets were empty. That image still haunts me -- the streets of NYC were empty.

I told my daughter about the empty streets the other day when she asked me the inevitable question: "What was it like?" Her eyes widened. "Empty?"

Explaining to my kids what the city looked like and felt like on that day is easy compared to answering the question of "Why did the terrorists attack?"

For help with that one, I consulted Marie Kieran, PhD, a child psychologist who specializes in helping kids cope with traumatic experiences.

Here's what she told me:

Each one of us was affected by 9/11 differently. I, for one, had just moved to Los Angeles from New Jersey a week earlier. In addition to being overwrought with sadness, I remember feeling completely helpless and frustrated that I couldn't be at home with my family, who were all a mere 45 minute drive away Manhattan -- AKA a 45 minute drive away from where the world seemed to be crumbling. 

Other people, like friends of mine who resided in New York City, reacted differently -- understandably so. They were scared, mad, and on alert 24 hours a day. One of my girlfriends actually picked up and moved out of New York a week after it happened -- while in the midst of a lease -- never to return again.

Then there are the moms of 9/11. The wonderful, amazing mothers who lost people near and dear to them that fateful day, and decided to do something about it -- for the better. Here are five unbelievably inspiring 9/11 moms.

Peter Guza, right, with brother Tom and dad Phil, who died on September 11, 2001Sometimes when Peter Guza is playing with his son Owen, it's not his 1 1/2-year-old he's seeing but a child's version of himself. And joining him in his mind's eye is his dad, Phil Guza. A young Phil Guza. A Phil Guza before the terror attacks on September 11 took him away from his family.

Peter Guza is one of Tuesday's Children, the 3,000-plus kids who lost a parent on 9/11. He was just a college kid doing what kids in college do -- sleeping in -- when he got a phone call that fateful morning. "A friend knew my dad worked in the World Trade Center. He called and told me a plane had flown into the tower." Peter told The Stir last week, "At first I kind of thought he was joking."

All this week, Americans will be remembering, reflecting on, and honoring the victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks in a variety of different ways. This tribute by a group of bikers in Chicago is one of the memorials that stands out the most.

Chicago firefighter Tom Maloney has organized a memorial motorcycle ride from the Windy City to Manhattan every year on the anniversary of the attacks. Nearly 100 bikers joined him Tuesday morning when he set off at 9:11 a.m. for Shanksville, Pennsylvania (where hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 crashed) and then the Pentagon, before finishing their journey in Ground Zero. Maloney made the maiden voyage 10 years ago when he raced cross country to New York to help after the attacks; now he calls this yearly tradition of reflecting on the road "therapy" ...