Family of Two Sept. 11 Victims Strives to Make a Difference

Family of Two Sept. 11 Victims Strives to Make a Difference


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Sammy Linebaugh reportingA Kaysville family lost two loved ones on September 11th. For them, it's important to remember, and it's also important to make a difference.

Two flags stand outside the Wahlstrom home-- one for Mary Alice Wahlstrom and one for her daughter Carolyn.

Both were aboard the first plane to crash into the World Trade Center on September 11th.

Norm Wahlstrom/ Mary Alice's Son: "I learned from Mom something, that you have to get involved. You have to live life."

The future: what does it hold for grandson Isaac, born earlier this year, and his sister Isabel, who is Mary Alice Wahlstrom's first great grandchild, she never got to see.

"For those soldiers who are dying in Iraq, I take my hat off to them and to their families."

They are fighting, says Norm Wahlstrom, for the future.

"It's a chance for these little people like this-- to let them have a chance to be raised in a world that allows you to chase after your dreams."

Dreams, he believes, the Iraqi people share.

This week, a delegation of Iraqi school teachers was in Salt Lake City. No photography was allowed for security reasons. Norm Wahlstrom's wife Margaret is on the State School Board and took part in the workshop.

Margaret Wahlstrom/ Mary Alice's Daughter-in-Law: "One of the ladies in our group said to them, 'Are you sad, are you angry that we came there? Or are you you glad?' They were so sincere and humble in their answer when they told us, 'We are so glad, we are so glad you're there. We're so glad you came.'"

Wahlstrom says the Iraqi teachers had questions about everything from suicide prevention programs to the PTA.

Margaret Wahlstrom: "They said, 'Our parents don't go near the schools. We don't have parents come into the schools.' They couldn't believe that there was parent involvement here, and they wanted to know how they could do it."

Hope...that's what this Kaysville Family sees ahead.

"Hopefully Iraq will be able to stand on its own two feet, and help join the cause against terrorism. Wouldn't that be wonderful if the seed was planted over there."

And someday, a new generation can leap forward, together.

Margaret Wahlstrom says the Iraqi teachers told her 90 percent of kids in Iraq are now in school--something that just wasn't happening under Saddam Hussein's regime.

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