On a splendid September weekend five years ago our whole family gathered in our backyard for an engagement party for my son and (now) daughter-in-law. A few days later, I got a call from my son telling me that both he and his fiancee were Ok, but I should turn on the TV because a plane had just hit the World Trade Center and it was on fire.

The hours, days and weeks that followed are difficult to look back on. We were personally fortunate that none of our close family (most of whom worked in Manhattan) were injured on 9/11. But there was sorrow because so many others had suffered losses of family or friends.

There was also a nagging underlying fear – fear that another building would be attacked. Fear that a bridge or subway would be blown up.

And there was still another emotion – one harder to describe – a mixture of pride in the US and determination to keep anyone from destroying the freedom and prosperity we enjoy here.

At this time every year, the traditional media focuses on the events of 9/11, and but somehow they usually don’t do a good job capturing the emotional state of people in and near New York City on and immediately after September 11.

But thanks to the efforts of Steve Rosenbaum, the director of a collaborative documentary about the days following 9/11 called “7 Days in September,” you can learn what the emotional climate was like in New York following the World Trade Center attacks. The video has been made available on Google Video for a few days.