An I-Beam cross resurrected at the heart of ground zero.
The "new skyline...noticeably absent of the towers.
A memorial wall informally created outside a church near the towers.
A fence with a memorial to firefighters and police officers.
It feels so much different living on the east coast on this day. I lived here on 9/11/2001 and besides the obvious reasons I was greatly impacted was the fact that 1) I was 34 weeks pregnant with our first child and my only thoughts were "what kind of world am I bringing this baby into?!" 2) my husband is training to fly a KC-10...what does this mean for our family in terms of his safety and his time away from home. That question was answered in 2002 when he was gone for 200+ days. In 2004 we moved to the NW and it was easy to feel removed from this event in our countries history. Now we're back east and living this close to NYC means there are a lot of people in this area that were personally effected by that day. And having had the chance to spend more time in the city lately (I love NYC) your constantly reminded when you see a firetruck go by with a memorial painting on it's front grill or the occassional memorial poster you may see in the subway.
I was downloading pictures for this post during today's Oprah episode. It's rare that I have anything non-animated on during the day...but since it was raining the girls were watching a video upstairs and I was downstairs. The show was being filmed in NYC and the guests were children who had lost parents in 9/11 and how life has changed over the past 6 years. All day I had been thinking about the personal aspect of the twin towers falling. Not the general numbers of people killed...but the widowed mom washing dishes at the sink. The kids starting school this week that only have 1 parent to attend "parents night". The toddlers, like Brooke, that are now Baileigh's age and would only know their parent from photos and stories. My mind had already been flooded with those thoughts all day...and then hearing the personal stories from these kids that were forced to grow up too fast made for a pretty emotional afternoon.
I try hard to think about 9/11...not just today, but frequently. It truly changed our families life as the military focus and purpose took on a new face to me. It has changed our country, forever. But like all events in history...it becomes just that, a thing of the past. Honestly, I don't really think we should have to memorialize this day...rather I would like to think that it effected people on a level significant enough that we're more aware, sensitive and appreciative every day, not just annually on this day.
4 comments:
Well said!!! I also remember 9/11 as you do - Pregnant meeting Chris at the WaWa on the way to the base not knowing when I would see him again. Then sitting at home wondering what was next for us as a family. Of course these are times I would like to forget, but that would be the worst thing we could do.
Sherry
I so often think of the children left to deal with the pain of losing a parent that day. My student who lost her father in the towers is now in 12th grade. I think of her and her family often (I coached her cousin in Field Hockey & lacrosse) especially when it's that time of year, you know - back to school, fall holidays, winter holidays, prom season, graduation time,etc. Times when you would want your dad around. Hold all of the families close in your hearts and prayers - may they find continual comfort knowing they are cared about.
~faith
Very well said Melynie. It is heart wrenching. Your photos are a beautiful tribute. They spoke to my heart. I say ditto to Sherry who mentioned that forgetting would be the worst thing we could do and I agree with Faith who said to hold all the families involved close to our hearts and our prayers, that they would find continual comfort.
We will never forget.
What a beautiful tribute you've given for 9/11!
We were on our way back home to the Chicago area after visiting my Mom and sister in Chatham and Morris Plains, NJ, when my hubby came flying through the hotel room we had stayed in overnight, telling me to turn the tv on. I asked him which channel and he said it wouldn't matter.
I cried when I saw the towers in flames. I'd been in the one several times back in high school. The memories of all the lobby elevators, the thought of how many people rode up them, that morning, and how utterly helpless and hopeless those innocent people must have felt was overwhelming. And how very despirate the many were that lept to their deaths from that height.
Every ounce of me wanted to turn back and go home to NJ to be with my family and friends. We had almost stayed longer (we home-schooled, at the time) to help my sister with her three month old triplets, one whom was sick.
It was really eerie driving the rest of the way home from Ohio. No planes in the air, which is so totally creepy to think about even now, especially when passing by bigger cities. And every place we stopped (frequent stops with a 7, 5, and 3 year old), everyone was quiet and in shock, and just going on automatically.
When we got home, I pulled out a photo album that had photos of the towers, and the view from the top so the kids could see what they looked like, before.
Back in college, one of my Mom's friend's husband showed us a slideshow of the towers being built he had taken from his office from above, which was really interesting. Now we had witnessed them collapsing.
My Mom, sister and friends called to tell about all those they knew that were late for work, that morning, and spared, as well as those that they heard were missing. Shortly after, I got an email from a friend who worked on Wall St. Her title was "I'm Alive!", and described how she narrowly escaped death by diving under a truck and following directions from people that came out of storefronts after the first tower collapsed. She was fortunate enough to be near a drugstore that helped the victims who in turn helped others that still needed help.
It's scary to think that something like this ever happened in the US, but it's even scarier to think that it very well may happen again.
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