The rain has only increased intensity, and the powerful gusts of wind combine to give a real chill to the air. A chill that is easy to forget as I wander this moving space. I am at the 9/11 Memorial in downtown New York, and my tears are mixing pretty freely with the rain pouring down.
The memorials sit on the footprints of the two downed towers, making the sheer size of those twin towers manifest. The twin memorials are ringed with bronze metal sheets, with each of the 2,977 victims of the attacks memorialized. The names are arranged based on the buildings they were in when they died, the flights that hit the towers and the government agencies that lost their first responders that day. People have left bright white and red flowers in the names of their loved ones.
Beneath the memorial parapets, a cascade of water falls about 30 feet to a pool, with a smaller, central void of water falling away. Noticeably, you can not see the bottom of the middle void, and it feels like it may go down to the very center of the world. Captivated, I stand and watch the rain stream into the mesmerizing memorials until i am soaked to the bone.
My feelinGs at being in this space are raw, recalling the personal and human pain from that day and also thinking of all the history that has flowed forward. Running my hands along some of the names of the first responders and considering their ultimate sacrifice in pursuit of helping others. Walking slowly around the south tower footprint. Picturing the chaos of ground zero in the days after. It all feels so fresh, more than 12 years later.
How did I get there?
A few days ago, I had one of the most powerful travel experiences in these 14+ months. Somewhat surprisingly, it came in the hustle and bustle of NYC, a city I have been visiting my entire life and one we have visited at least once a year for extended trips over the last 6-7 years. Having ranged far and wide these many months, it was interesting to have this powerful experience in a place I like to think I know somewhat well already.
In this city we most certainly love, on a rainy Monday I ducked out for an afternoon visit to the 9/11 Memorial, which opened on the 10th anniversary of those attacks. I had read a few intriguing articles about the design of the memorial and wanted to see it for myself.
While it was sprinkling when I left the upper west, where we were staying, the clouds looked several orders of magnitude worst when I got out of the subway. The swirling and darkening sky contrasted with the shimmering facade of the enormous Freedom Tower, One World Trade Center. This building will be over 1,700 feet when completed and the largest skyscraper in the US (about 400 feet taller than the twin tower) . The entire area around the new tower and the memorial is still in a ton of flux and has the feel of a bustling construction site. Because it is.
I make my way to the ticket booth and get a free ticket for an hour later. But with the rain driving people away I can walk right in. Before getting to the memorial, each visitor must go through security checks akin to what was required for boarding a plane before 9/11. Not sure if that is at all intentional, but it is just one more reminder how the world has changed in the intervening years. Once the construction around the site is complete, the memorial will be completely open.
Then you walk through some of that construction, the new building rising from the ashes to this day and come out to the memorial space. It is big, 8 acres, and somewhat irregular in shape based on the arrangement of the buildings in the site. The green and stillness are huge contrasts to the constant activity out on Church St. There is one tree that somehow survived the devastation, but I did not really notice it as my eyes and heart were drawn to the memorials. And man did they deliver.
I can not recommend visiting the 9/11 memorial more highly. A must, even if it is nearly certain to bring you to tears too.
Postscript: Also want to thank so many of you for you warm comments here and on FB, the emails, calls and well wishes about our last post. It has been heart warming, and so touching. Has me even more excited about the next steps in our lives. Very exciting and all the better for knowing there are so many people following along and rooting for us. Much love.
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