Nine years passed, but I remember September 11, 2001 as if it was yesterday. I was a sophomore in high school, and that particular morning, the radio alarm on my stereo woke me up to a reporter announcing that a hijacked plane flew into the World Trade Center. Huh? Hijacked plane? Twin towers? Fire? I thought surely this was a joke, and almost brushed it aside until I realized – that’s strange – I never set my radio alarm to go off that morning, nor do I even use it at all. The world was trying to tell me something. So instead of finding some way to shut off the obnoxious alarm to get five more precious minutes of sleep, I sat straight up in bed, and listened.

I remember how surreal the rest of the day felt. Even though the attack happened thousands of miles away, it felt as if I lost someone I personally knew. Looking back, I realized that I went through a mild form of the grieving process during the next few months – the denial, the anger, the sadness, but I never got through the acceptance part. I remember scouring the news for stories, photos, anything – to help me understand what happened, and to fill a void that for some reason, I just couldn’t shake off.

Years later, I heard from others who visited Ground Zero that it wasn’t much to see, so I took their word for it and never got around to seeing it in person. But towards the end of our stay in New York, I finally gave into that tugging feeling inside of me that told me to just do it. I wanted to at least try to understand what happened, and to know that it wasn’t just a nightmare. (Image: New York Times)

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The World Trade Center Tour

So I did some scouting around on the web and discovered the World Trade Center Tour. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I am so glad that I went. It turns out that the tour is put on by the Tribute WTC Visitor Center (which is also a museum), and was started by friends and families of victims of 9/11 as a way to educate the public about what happened, as well as deter other tours and businesses that were trying to make money off of the tragedy. The tour costs just $10/person and is a tax-deductible donation, with all proceeds going back towards the visitor center. Everyone who works there, even the tour guides – are all volunteers and are all somehow personally connected to the victims of 9/11.

This is what Ground Zero looks like – construction. It’s hard to imagine the towers there.

What I was surprised at was how BIG Ground Zero is. It’s much larger than I pictured.

The tour is called “Person to Person History”:

Daily walking tours are conducted along the World Trade Center site and are led by people whose lives were profoundly changed by September 11th. Guides share key facts and reveal specific events of the day while weaving their personal experiences of survival, loss, and healing, throughout the tour, giving visitors an unparalleled opportunity to connect with history first-hand.

Here’s our tour guide Chris. She’s an elderly woman teetering just over five feet, but she commands the respect of a 6’2″, 300 pound cop from Queens. Well the last part is true – she is from Queens (and damn proud of it), and she used to be a police officer. She retired later on to become a psychologist, and helped victims of the attack.

True, Ground Zero isn’t much to see, but what really made the tour was how vividly Chris painted the picture of what happened on 9/11. She showed us photos (some that she took herself) of what the World Trade Center used to look like, pointed out the sequence of events from that morning, and told us everything the media did and didn’t want us to know.

Most importantly, Chris told us first-hand, what it was like to be there when it happened, and how her friend who worked in the towers managed to get out alive. There was another man leading the group, also a retired policeman. He told us about how he went for weeks looking for his longtime friend who was missing, and how he dealt with the loss when he found out his friend was gone. He now has health problems from all the debris he inhaled, which is not uncommon for people who worked on site (therefore, the number of 9/11 victims is still growing).

The viewing room.

This is what they’re building there. It’s a memorial called “Reflecting Absence”. It’s looks like it’s going to be amazing. (from Gothamist)

“Eleven Tears” Memorial

American Express didn’t have their main office at the WTC, but they had a small division there. 11 of their employees died during the attack, so American Express decided to make their own memorial to commemorate them. Smart move – because the large memorial wouldn’t be done until ten years later (next year).

It doesn’t look spectacular in the photo, but the memorial is well done – it expresses so much sadness. “Teardrops” fall from one of eleven small ceiling ducts into the pool.

Eleven silver stands of light
Eleven facets of a gleaming heart
Eleven tears, forever falling, on
Eleven names in a tranquil pool.

The eleven sided heart is suspended a few inches above the water.

Each employee name is inscribed on one of the sides, along with five phrases their family members chose for them.

All of their names on a plaque.

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