September 11th - Ten Years

For the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, I walked down to the World Trade Center site with my friend Meghan where we met up with her friend Bishma. There's not too much I really want to say about the day - I think the pictures can speak for themselves. One particular thing sticks out in my mind though that I did want to share. Even though we couldn't get down to the actual ceremony (you needed a special pass), there were screens around projecting the ceremony and you could hear it over loudspeakers.





We were walking around looking at different memorials and ribbons at the churches in the area while the victims names were being read. It was so quiet and the names just echoed amongst the buildings downtown. It was a little eerie and very emotional. For every name we heard, I knew there were many family members and friends at the ceremony grieving again. The hardest one was when a young boy was reading a section of names and finished with "...my dad. I love you and miss you so much." I turned to Meghan and we both had tears in our eyes.





The memorial ribbons were very interesting to read. Each ribbon said "Remember To Love" and the end and anyone could write whatever message they liked and tie it to the fence around St. Paul's Church. Some of the ribbons were written for specific people who lost their lives, some were notes of thanks and support but not one (and I read so many) had any words of hate. Every one was a message of love, thanks and/or hope. Seeing that was so reassuring. There were protestors and conspiracy theorists with their signs - mostly in a specific area across the street with their signs - but there were thousands of more ribbons than there were people with evil things to say. It makes me believe most people do want to live peaceably and move forward with love and hope.





Later that evening when I got home, I went up to the rooftop of the building because I knew from last year that the Tribute in Lights was visible from our roof. It was fairly cloudy and a little foggy so they weren't as clear as last year but still visable and still beautiful.