It bottomed out in early March 2009. The period from March 2009 to right now can roughly be described as "growth." We describe it as "growth" because the overall movement is upwards. 9 years and 1 month is "almost a decade" because a decade is 10 years and 9 is pretty close to 10.
Take a look at the 10 year S&P 500 chart:
http://www.macrotrends.net/2488/sp500-10-year-daily-chart
It bottomed out in early March 2009. The period from March 2009 to right now can roughly be described as "growth." We describe it as "growth" because the overall movement is upwards. 9 years and 1 month is "almost a decade" because a decade is 10 years and 9 is pretty close to 10.