Post-Sept. 11 Baby Morgan Kay Beamer

Feb. 21 -- Though she's just 6 weeks old, Morgan Kay Beamer — with her father's dark hair and a little cleft in her chin — is building a bridge between Sept. 11 and the future.

Her father, Todd Beamer, was the 32-year-old hero on United Flight 93 who said "Let's roll" before joining other passengers in storming the cockpit. The passengers apparently fought with the hijackers for control of the jetliner, which plummeted into the ground rather than hitting its intended target. Everyone on board died.

Her mother, Lisa Beamer, has become a public symbol of courage and strength to a grieving nation as she struggles to keep her family together. Now the mother of three — including Morgan's two big brothers, David, 4, and Drew, 2 — Lisa is still learning how to raise her family without her husband.

Daily Reminders

Lisa, who gave birth on Jan. 9, had her sister-in-law by her side. Lisa says Todd had hoped third child would be a girl, and she named the baby after him — Morgan was his middle name. Lisa says of her husband, "I felt like he knew what was happening. I felt like he was smiling."

But Morgan came home from the hospital to no father. Lisa, who lost her father when she was 15, knows that emptiness all too well.

"Although pain dissipates over time, it doesn't go away," she says. "I know that many years down the road we'll still be sad in some ways. But we'll triumph, too."

Though Todd is always in her thoughts, Lisa said she tries not to focus on the events of Sept. 11. "If I see a picture of the crash site or something like that on TV, obviously I think through it in my head," she says, "but I don't dwell too much on what happened that day."

Still, there are almost constant reminders of the void in her life. "Coming in the door every night is the big thing," she says, referring to her husband's homecoming at the end of each workday. "To hear the garage door go up, see the kids go to the door, is probably the biggest thing I miss."