Livingston teenager Taylor Jones won’t be going to the ceremonies at Ground Zero observing
the 10-year anniversary of the Twin Towers collapse. In fact, she and her family do not like to
call it an anniversary at all. Anniversaries are associated with happy times, they say, and Sept.
11, 2001 was anything but.
Ten years after 9/11: Livingston teenager Taylor Jones refuses to call it an anniversary
As each year school progresses, Livingston student Taylor Jones knows her history class is
moving closer and closer to studying the chapter about the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Taylor, who lost her father at the World Trade Center, said she usually doesn't decide until last
minute whether she will attend the class when the events of that day are discussed.
Taylor was 5 years old when her father, Donald T. Jones, a bond broker for Cantor Fitzgerald,
died on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center. Her younger brother, Don, was only 2.
The 15-year-old said she tries to avoid the images of the burning towers that flood TV and
computer screens, especially on the anniversaries of the attacks.
“On the first day of high school,” she related, “the kids in the class started bringing up videos
of the planes crashing into the towers on youtube.com, It really upsets me to see these images
because most of the time I try so hard to shield myself from seeing them."
For the past nine anniversaries of Sept. 11, the family has shunned all mass media. “We keep
the TV off and just do our own thing that day," said Michelle Jones-Farrell, Taylor's mother, who
has remarried. "I don't know why the media call it the anniversary of Sept. 11. Anniversaries are
happy times, and this isn't a happy time for us or the other families."
Taylor understands the significance of the upcoming 10th anniversary of the tragedy and
knows it may be the unhappiest time since her father died. She says she will deal with her
feelings as September rolls around, but right now she is trying to maintain the routine of a
regular teenager.
She has 793 Facebook friends, lives in a picturesque home, and has just finished
her freshman year at Livingston High School.
Taylor, an excellent student, seems to easily balance school, friends and extracurricular
activities. She plays soccer, skis and babysits her two younger brothers. These days, her
porcelain skin and medium brown hair are accented by a purple, green and blue feather hair
extension she recently had put in. "All the girls around here have one," Taylor said. "You can
just go to any salon around here, and they can put them in fast and easy."
Even though she lives the life of a typical teen-ager, the spectre of 9/11 is always with Taylor,
and it comes up when she least expects it.
Taylor says she deals with the death of her father very privately and usually prefers not to talk
about it with others. This year as in years past, the Jones-Farrell family plans to observe the
anniversary in the privacy of their own home and hometown. "We have never been to Ground
Zero," said Jones-Farrell. "The kids don't want to go so we don't go there or force it on them.
There is a memorial for Don in our town so we stop there."
The family has never spoken publicly about Jones' death and has stayed out of the media
spotlight. "We remember Don and celebrate his life in our own way that the kids feel
comfortable with," said Jones-Farrell.
Therapy has been important to Jones-Farrell, but not to Taylor.
"I have gone and continue to go to therapy groups for women who lost their husbands on
Sept. 11, and I have found it to be helpful to talk with other women who are going through the
same thing," said Jones-Farrell. "I took Taylor one time to a group for children who lost a parent,
and she didn't like it so we never went back.”
Although high school can be rough emotionally on any freshman, especially one in Taylor's
circumstance, her home life offers a refuge to the stress of school and being a teenager. "I've
asked them if they want to sell the house and move into a bigger one, but they say no, and I can't
convince them," said Jones-Farrell. "This is their dad's house, and they don't want to move.
That's just fine with me.”
The family's backyard is inch for inch a testament to Jones, from the swimming pool with the
emblem of the N.Y. Giants, to the tree planted in the back of the yard surrounded by statues of
angels and a father and son golfing together.
His spirit is felt by everyone who enters the space. Those who knew Jones are immediately
able to pick up on all the small but meaningful tributes that decorate the yard. For those who
never met Jones, short and sweet explanations and stories are told by his wife and children until
new guests at the house feel as though they knew Jones for years.
"We had a swimming pool put in because as soon as we moved in -- that's what Don wanted to
do, he wanted a swimming pool for the kids," recalled Jones-Farrell. "Don loved the Giants so
we got the Giants emblem on the top of the pool for him."
Taylor's home is just around the block from where her father grew up as a child and where her
grandmother still lives. Taylor and her brother attended the same elementary school as her father
did nearly 35 years ago. Although none of the same teachers are still at the school, many new
teachers and parents remember Jones because they grew up together.
Jones’ mother has dedicated her life to remembering and honoring her son. She has
transformed her house into a 9/11memorial.
"My grandmother has pictures of my dad all over her house and pictures of the towers also,"
said Taylor. "Anything that has to do with Sept. 11 my grandmother has."
Although the two families have dealt with the death in different ways, they have remained
close, and in some ways, have grown closer in the past 10 years. The Jones family continues to
be a support net for Taylor, her brothers and her mom.
"Sometimes I come home from school, and my dad's cousin will be sitting on the couch
watching TV," said Taylor. "They all have keys to our house and just show up whenever they
want, especially in the summer when our pool is open."
Jones-Farrell has found one other way to honor the memory of her late husband. She made
sure her kids learned how to ski, something Jones loved to do.
In the winter the whole family goes skiing in Vermont, and Taylor has learned to love the
sport. "I hated to ski, and Don knew that, so after he passed away I said the one thing I can do to
make him happy is to learn how to ski and teach the children to ski also," said JonesFarrell. "Now the whole family goes skiing, and we love it. I know Don would have loved it,
too."
Taylor's mom and her second husband have a young son, whom Taylor adores. Her younger
brother Chris has brownish red hair and the biggest smile you could imagine on a 4-year-old. He
runs through the house dressed in a Darth Vader costume and hands out orange Tic-Tacs.
"He's the glue that really brought us all together again," said Jones-Farrell. "The kids really
wanted to have a younger brother, so we had Chris shortly after I got remarried."
This summer the family of five plans to travel to Camp Sunshine in Maine where during "Ray
of Hope" week 9/11 families who lost loved ones will gather to share their experiences and talk
about the future.
"We're bringing the whole family," said Jones-Farrell. "Even Chris is coming because it
affects his life, too. Chris is only 4 years old, but he lives through all this with us, he goes with us
to the memorial in our town, he sees the pictures of Dan and knows who he is. He is a part of it."
Like most children who have lost a parent, Taylor is beginning to realize she may never find
closure. "I am happy about the death of Osama Bin Laden just like most people," said Taylor.
"But it does not change that my father died because of him."
For Taylor's mom, life these days is bittersweet.
"These next few years coming up we have big milestones for Taylor -- her sweet sixteen,
proms, graduation, college. It's really sad that her dad won't be there for any of it because I know
he would be so proud of her."
Roxanne Belloni is a senior Journalism and Sociology major at Rutgers University. She is from
Colonia New Jersey and will be attending graduate school this fall for Public Relations. She was
drawn to this course for its narrative writing style and the opportunity to cover a story that has
not yet been covered by any other media outlet. She feels that this is an opportunity to sharpen
her journalistic skills on covering sensitive story matter. She is also interested in the sociological
aspects of what has happened to the families and how they are coping 10 years later.
EDITORS!
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Author Contact:
Roxanne Belloni
roxannebelloni@yahoo.com
732-770-7860
9 Shadowlawn Drive
Colonia NJ 07067