I have only witnessed a small portion of history, but my studies have led me to believe that major tragedies have a pattern. Every generation seems to get one while they are also struggling with their own sense of self. I'm not saying this well, but follow this pattern...
My grandmother was a young wife--a war bride--with a new baby, knowing only that her husband was overseas, a day shy of eighteen years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked. My mother can tell me exactly where she was when she heard that Kennedy had been shot. She was astonished to discover that not everyone loved him as she did. My older sister was born in August, 1964. On September 11, 2001, I had spent the night with a friend when her ex-boyfriend called to tell us to wake up and turn on the television. I will never forget watching the second plane hit the tower.
Everybody has one, and not just Americans. I'm convinced that every person in the world has a story to tell about something that changed their perception of the world. Never forget your story. Someday your children, students, nieces and nephews will need to hear about yours as they experience their own.
This is the diagram showing major landmarks visible to the south of the Empire State Building.
This is a blow-up of the WTC portion.
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These show the area where the towers used to stand, and where the memorial will one day take their place.
This seems a little more realistic to me. Devastation has occurred, but building has begun. It's a messy process, this business of rebirth. The shattered pieces and twisted beams that remain as the new building materials are already stacking up...these serve as reminders. It was horrible, but not everything that happened that day was horrible.
Neighboring buildings still wear damage, almost like a badge. "It's okay; I'll take care of this myself. See if there's anything you can do for my sister, for though she has died, she is still in pain." I think this was the hardest part to see, these buildings whose minor and repairable damage has been ignored in the effort to find every piece of human flesh.
Many people have left offerings such as these--locks of hair, flowers, braided ropes of plant stems or fabric.
In the churchyard directly across the street the roots of a mighty tree rest among the headstones. A young tree has been planted to replace it. The message is clear; nothing--nobody--lasts forever. Those who have been--whether they pass in old age or in youth--make way for those who have yet to come. And struggling with the pain of this process makes us stronger.
The Little Chapel That Stood, Trinity Chapel, is where relief workers set up shop for the duration of the recovery effort. This building saw George Washington inaugurated. It is the oldest working church in New York, and despite its close proximity to the blast, it was completely undamaged. The interior houses memorial exhibits, a reminder that on that day, and for months afterward, we worked together to what we could, when we could, to help how we could.
© 2004
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