When Elisabeth Stringer Keefe found a photograph of a newlywed at Ground Zero couple a few weeks after the tragic 9/11 terrorist attack, she vowed to look for the original owner and the couple in the picture.
Every year during the 9/11 memorial, she asked around and posted a message on Twitter asking people to share her message in the hopes of finding out who this pictured belonged to. She didn’t have any luck for years, but more than thirteen years later, someone finally recognized the picture.
Every yr on #911 I post this photo hoping 2 return 2 owner. Found @ #groundzero #WTC in 2001 -Pls RT pic.twitter.com/mZ9LdQqE7x @universalhub
— Prof. Keefe (@ProfKeefe) September 12, 2014
Elisabeth found the photograph rather coincidentally with a friend she was visiting in Manhattan. Because Elisabeth’s friend was planning to move to California, the picture was passed on to Elisabeth. According to the woman, her friend asked her to “do something meaningful with it.”
Every single year, Elisabeth tried her best to find out who the groom and bride with the yellow roses were. She also tried to find the other people who were on the photograph, hoping that they could tell her more and deliver the picture back to the original owner.
“9/11 was a traumatic event for everyone, but there’s no description (for) the horrors that the people who worked in the World Trade Center and the area experienced,” Elisabeth said to TODAY. “If the photo was connected, I wanted to do just one small thing to bring some comfort.”
“I was in disbelief,” she said. “I stayed up until 4 a.m. watching it go viral.”
After a couple of years, a tweet with the picture went viral and had over 40,000 retweets.
Thanks to the help of thousands of Twitter users, someone had finally recognized the people on the picture.
Bears Retweeting #911photo pic.twitter.com/vsIpKCJ1oR
— Prof. Keefe (@ProfKeefe) September 13, 2014
Fred Mahe from Colorado responded to her tweet saying that he knows the people on the photo and attended the wedding. He is the man that’s standing to the far left and last saw the picture sitting on his desk on the 77th floor of the second World Trade Center tower.
“That kind of exposure was incredible, and certainly helped to bring us together,” Elisabeth said.
Elisabeth and Fred then talked to each other on the phone and she was relieved to hear that everyone in the picture were alive and well.
The two arranged a meeting so that the photograph could be handed over in person and return to its owner after thirteen years of being lost.
“Fred and I will reconnect in New York for me to return it to him,” she mentions.
And for the big finish: @fredwmahe & I will meet on #Monday in #NYC! So excited! #911photo
— Prof. Keefe (@ProfKeefe) September 13, 2014
All of this wouldn’t be possible if social media didn’t help Elisabeth out, and she expresses her gratitude for sharing this picture with an emotional meaning.
“The outpouring of support from the online community is what made this work,” she concludes. “Small acts of kindness can have a very big impact.”
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