Maureen Geraghty, whose three brothers served as New York firefighters and were lost in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, is hosting a 25th-anniversary event in Phoenix to reflect on the compassion and solidarity that followed the tragedy.
The Choice on 9-12: A Healing Experience will take place at the New Vision Center for Spiritual Living on Friday, September 11, 2026, from 6pm to 8pm Arizona time. The event will also be livestreamed.
Geraghty’s two brothers died on September 11, 2001. A third later died from lung cancer after spending a year working at Ground Zero.
She travelled to New York with her family in the days after the attacks and watched rescue teams search through the rubble for survivors. She recalled the silence that followed whenever a body was recovered.
“When they found a body, a whistle blew and everything stopped,” Geraghty said. “Every single thing that was happening, and then they brought that body off the pile, and everything continued again.”
She said the experience of grieving in full public view had left a lasting impression on her family.
“Usually we grieve in private, and so my family had to grieve in public,” she said.
The Phoenix event will combine personal testimony, music, reflection and spiritual healing. Geraghty said attendees will hear her brother’s final words and a recording of him communicating with another fire chief during the rescue operation.
Although the event is titled The Choice on 9-12 as a reference to the unity seen in the days after the attacks, organisers have confirmed that it will be held on September 11 at the centre’s Tatum campus, at 18010 North Tatum Boulevard.
Geraghty said her aim was to remember not only the loss, but also the compassion that emerged in its aftermath.
“Even though we had all those fears, we also had compassion and love,” she said. “I was inspired to bring that out to the world really.”
