In Memoriam

Where were you on 9/11?

There isn't an American who can't answer that question, and yet most of us have no idea what it was like to experience that day, those events, in our own hometown.

During a recent trip to New York City, we visited the National September 11 Memorial Museum and shared insight into that day from a different perspective.  

The memorial and  museum are located in the footprint of the twin towers. The memorial outside the museum was designed to represent the void left when the buildings collapsed and the devastating absence of those who died that day. This water feature is the largest man made waterfall in North America. The names of the deceased are inscribed into panels surrounding the pool.

Inside, you can see the foundations of the buildings themselves....

                                                and the twisted metal from the explosions.

              Ladder 3's firefighters maintained contact up to the 40th floor of the north tower.

Visit this website to read about the firetruck being lowered into the museum.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2017061/Fallen-9-11-Ladder-Company-3-engine-returns-Ground-Zero-years-lowered-new-memorial-home.html

The most poignant area of the museum is the one containing the hundreds of artifacts from that day. Photography is not allowed in that portion of the museum. I was overcome with the scope and impact of the event that I had only witnessed on TV. The dreadful shock and unimaginable grief of the city is palpable in this section of the memorial. Visitors displayed reverence and respect for all those touched that day.

Balancing the horror is the love and support displayed in the city and around the country. A prime example of that is Lady Liberty. Go here to learn more about her. https://www.911memorial.org/images-videos/audio/lady-liberty

But the exhibit that impressed me most was the art work of The New Yorker magazine as it conveyed the emotions of New Yorkers and Americans.

For more information visit https://www.911memorial.org/images-videos/audio/lady-liberty

Love ya'll,

Shelli 

Tonight, I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me.’
– President George W. Bush on Sept. 11, 2001.

Ten years have passed since a perfect blue sky morning turned into the blackest of nights. Since then we’ve lived in sunshine and in shadow, and although we can never unsee what happened here, we can also see that children who lost their parents have grown into young adults, grandchildren have been born and good works and public service have taken root to honor those we loved and lost.
– New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, speaking at a memorial service in New York.

Are they dead that yet speak louder than we can speak,

and a more universal language? 

Are they dead that yet act? 

Are they dead that yet move upon society and

inspire the people with nobler motives and more heroic patriotism? 

~Henry Ward Beecher