'Let's Just Be Kind To Each Other,' Wife Of Man Killed In 9/11 Attacks Will Celebrate Anniversary Helping Others

FOXBORO (CBS) - For families who lost someone on September 11, 2001, the yearly anniversary can be especially emotional. Preparing to mark the 20th anniversary of the attack Saturday is something Cindy McGinty is preparing to do with an annual day of service.

McGinty's 42-year-old husband, Mike, was on the 99th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center at a business meeting on Sept. 11. It would be at least a month until his remains were identified. His wedding band was found and is now fused with hers.

"It's hard because it doesn't go away for us. We live it every day, and that's why on 9/11, let's just be kind to each other," McGinty told WBZ-TV.

That's been the mission for the mother of two sons, Daniel and David, who were 8 and 7 years old 20 years ago. Then a Foxboro resident, McGinty turned grief into gratitude.

"I think people who had the biggest impact on me were people who just did something for me," she said.

That influence started 9/11 Day, an annual national day of service that will be a hallmark of Saturday's remembrance for Cindy McGinty, one she helped organize.

"I never found a good place to be until we started this," she said.

Care packages will be organized in 10 cities across the country, including Boston. That's what she believes should be the legacy of the tragedy that tore at her family and the country.

"We encourage people to do good deeds on 9/11 to get back to that day in the minutes after when the whole country united," she told WBZ.

For McGinty, service isn't just an anniversary. She also uses her Facebook page to promote a daily idea and she's taken part in a public service announcement with other families and survivors.

"When neighbors showed up for neighbors and everyone was our brother or sister," she says in the PSA.

McGinty said the number 20 doesn't carry an extra burden for her, but it does for her sons.

"They're not going to have anyone around to show them how to be a dad or how to be a father," she said.

On this milestone she is sharing her husband's spirit and keeping the day alive.

"Mike was a 42-year-old man who was a child at heart. I miss that everyday."