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KAYSVILLE, Davis County -- Three of the victims on 9/11 had ties to Utah, and one family member is determined to make sure they're never forgotten.
"Even though September 11th was a cruel, sad, harsh day for us 10 years ago, we've learned it's also a day of hope for us," Margaret Wahlstrom said.
And that hope drives Wahlstrom to see a memorial built to honor and remember her mother-in-law, Mary Alice Wahlstrom.
Mary Alice Wahlstrom and sister-in-law Carolyn Beug were passengers on the first plane that hit the World Trade Center on 9/11.
"It's important to have something that would inspire them to think back and to remember," Wahlstrom said.
The memorial will also pay tribute to Brady Howell, a Utah State grad who was interning at the Pentagon when flight 77 crashed in to the building. That was the goal nine years ago when a group of kids with Davis County's Youth of Hope approached the Wahlstrom family with the idea.
"The kids that started this wanted to bring their kids here someday and they wanted to teach them so the memorial becomes a place of teaching and place of reflection," Wahlstrom said.
This fall, the dreams of those kids and the Wahlstrom family will be realized when a simplified version of the original memorial design will be built in Mary Alice Wahlstrom's hometown next to the Kaysville ponds.
"It's kind of centrally located so that these people will see it and want to come visit it," she said.
Ten years and too many tears to count later, Wahlstrom said 9/11 gave birth to a strength and bond her family has relied on countless times since --a strength she hopes others will find when they visit this memorial.
"I think that's one of the things we all learned from September 11th --just how important the family is. So when we're faced with anything, we're all right there together."
Email:shaws@ksl.com