Brett Eagleson and Elizabeth Miller share a painful family history: They each lost their father in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11th, 2001.

Miller was 6 when her firefighter father, Douglas, died. Although he had once made more money as an electrician, she said, firefighting was his passion, so he switched careers when his wife, Laurie, told him, "Go for your dream, Doug." Miller recalls him as devoted to his job, but also playful, sometimes staging "practice fire drills" at home by tying ropes around his kids' waists and lowering them from a banister. Other times, he pretended to pack one of them into his duffel bag and take them to work.

"He made everything fun," Miller said.

Bryan Anselm/The New York Times / Redux / Redux

Eagleson was 15 when his father, Bruce, was killed. He

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