Thread by @HuffPost

Miriam Jacobson was just 13 years old when her childhood came crashing down. It's been 20 years since the #September11 attacks that continue to impact her life in unexpected, life-shattering ways. huffp.st/SjCTUZ9

She first heard about the attack while in her 8th-grade science class. Her father, Steven, worked on the 110th floor of the World Trade Center.

“My thoughts quickly turned to my daddy. How was he going to get out? How quickly could he run down 110 flights of stairs?” she writes.

After his death, she bottled up her terror, swallowed her tears and entered survival mode. But at 13, she suffered from migraines, back pain, stomach pain and debilitating fatigue. Her body absorbed what her brain couldn't yet process. #September11

Jacobson eventually sought support from a trauma specialist. Through a combination of EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) and talk therapy, she learned the power of embracing her full spectrum of emotions.

Just as Jacobson started to feel the ground underneath her, the deeper ripple effects of #September11 revealed themselves.

In 2013, her mother lost her battle with stage 4 metastatic lung cancer, a documented World Trade Center-related health condition. huffp.st/SjCTUZ9

Then, in 2019, Jacobson was diagnosed with breast cancer, also a known World Trade Center-related illness. She was 31 years old. #September11 huffp.st/SjCTUZ9

Today, Jacobson is on a path to healing. "I allow the rage to flow through me, knowing that the best way to move beyond pain is to wade in its mucky waters." #September11 huffp.st/SjCTUZ9

Read about how Jacobson turned her suffering into healing energy for herself and others 20 years after 9/11. #911Memorial

📷: Photos courtesy of Miriam Jacobson

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