It is so difficult for me to believe that one of the defining moments of my short life time on this earth is going to be marking its tenth anniversary this year. It truly does seem like yesterday and around this time of year, the lump grows in my throat. I begin my school year with a "getting to know you" section designed for each class. And I always find that the room gets so silent when I speak of that terrifying day. Silence you can cut with a knife. Silence that looms throughout my heart when I think of that day and how it would change all of our lives.
The memorial, "Reflecting Absence" is about to open on the World Trade Center site within a few weeks. I am so pleased that they completed it and from what I can see, it is truly a fitting memorial to those who lost their lives, both on that day and in 1993 when the buildings were first bombed. It brings tears to my eyes when I see pictures of what they intend the memorial to be. Two large square wells placed into the Earth, each on the site of each of the buildings. They are surrounded by marble that contain the names of all those lost on this horrific day. Water falls down the walls into the earth, like sheets of glass, into a pool at the bottom and appear to fall like beaded curtains, looking much like falling tears...not rushing water. Extremely poetic and perfect. The memorial site itself opens on September 11, 2011 with the museum portion set to open in 2012 and contain memoriabilia from those victims as well as factual/ structural evidence from the buildings themselves.
The hurried breath does not lessen in my chest...
My heart does not hurt as much, but it still cries at times thinking about those families who lost loved ones and for a country that lost it's innocence on that dark day.
Why is it that I feel pain so fully and, at times, have to bar myself from allowing my thoughts to truly run rampant. I must shed my thoughts of free-falling and rubble-dusted nylons. I can lose myself in the thoughts of "What must have gone through their minds?" or "What those families must still go through?" and know that at every September 11th, they relive the day in their own hearts and minds, much more than I could ever imagine, tearing off that band-aid and opening that wound once again. And it makes me sad...
For them...
For the country...
For those children...
However, I do know that this year a new page will be turned and a very fitting, peaceful memorial will open. A tribute will resound throughout the land that would make any of the victims proud. Art that is designed to provide honor, remembrance, and consolation. Art that can heal the human heart. Art that can serve as a memoriam and educate those come forwards ahead of us who lived the moment.
I truly think that it is a beautiful, fitting tribute to the fallen and a place I must visit someday.
No comments:
Post a Comment