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Michael Mandoza and Elizabeth Gum added something else to their son's keepsake: news stories about death and destruction; horror and disbelief; uncertainty and terror.
Not that their baby, Christopher Mandola, isn't the light of their life, but his arrival coincided with last year's attacks on the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon.
Christopher was born at Mary Washington Hospital just minutes before the first plane hit the tower in New York.
Gum delivered her son by C-section and was just coming out of recovery when the nurses broke the news.
"Your baby just inherited a lot of souls," one told her.
Gum had the television on just in time to see the second plane hit Tower 2.
In an ironic twist, Christopher's dad shares the same birthday. He turns 22 today.
So while the family shares in everyone's grief today, they'll do something most people wouldn't think of doing: celebrate.
Gum's already used to strange looks and abrupt comments; she encounters them every time someone stops to comment on Christopher and finds out when his birthday is.
She knows her little boy faces another round of difficulty in school. He'll likely suffer through somber auditorium assemblies and serious history lessons every Sept. 11 until he graduates from high school.
But Gum doesn't plan to let the unfortunate coincidence spoil the family's special day this year or in years to come.
She wants people to know that Sept. 11 doesn't have to be only a day of tragedy. She wants everyone to know that something good can - and did - come at such a difficult time in the nation's history.
The family drove to South of the Border yesterday and planned to return in time to light off fireworks in the parking lot of their Heritage Hills apartment complex.
"There's darkness, and there's light," Gum said. She turned to watch watch Christopher slide across her living room in his walker. "He's my light."
-Brian Baer, fredericksburg.com