brandon's mom has been in town this week and the one bit of tourism she requested for her visit was a quick trip to the 9/11 memorial at ground zero. downtown. way downtown.
i used to work in an office building just across the street from ground zero, way back in 2005 when the site was nothing but a horribly depressing hole in the ground where the twin towers once stood. we could see it out the floor-to-ceiling windows from the lunch room, and i always wondered what it would have been like for anyone who just happened to wander in there that one morning in september to grab a bowl of oatmeal, or something else mundane, only to watch in shock as those planes came in. it clouded that cafeteria in a sort of melancholy, anxious feeling for me.
it's been a few years since we've moved back to the city but i hadn't found an excuse to visit my old stomping grounds again, so i was glad for the chance to trek on down and see how everything was coming together. there is so much construction still and while so much has changed, it's in that weird way where even the differences are just the same, only... different? it was like being in some weird kind of wind tunnel of time travel. once i got my bearings it was like i could see old me and old downtown and now me and now downtown all together at the same time, sort of like mirror images of each other, or like double vision maybe... that makes absolutely no sense, but that's how it felt. and then i met a couple cute blog readers at bennie's.
9/11 memorial--worth a visit.
note that the museum isn't opened yet,
and you need to reserve your time of visit online HERE (it's free),
and you can't bring hairspray. they'll confiscate it.
update!
my dad just emailed me this scan of an old photo
he took in 1996 on the top of one of the wtc towers.
brace yourself, i am all kinds of thirteen in this picture...
yikes!
I always wonder about the people that will work in the new World Trade...I'd feel haunted each and every day.
ReplyDeleteAfter our visit to DC, I really want to see the 9/11 memorial. such emotions attached to it.
ReplyDeleteGreat pics, your little boy is adorable!
ReplyDeleteAmazing! I just saw a part of the towers at the fair.
ReplyDeleteWhen I visited New York a couple years ago they weren't finished with the memorial I can't wait to go back someday and see it. I love your outfit by the way!
ReplyDeleteI was just there last Wednesday since I have some family visiting from Poland!
ReplyDeleteThat's amazing and beautiful. It's so important that we remember the heroes who lost their lives. Also, on a completely different note... Your little boy and his jean shorts are killing me. Way too cute.
ReplyDeletemolly at Urban Nester
http://alwaysamrsforeverakidd.blogspot.com
I think about those who were so close on that day, I remember how horrified I was, I can't imagine being right there. The pictures are beautiful, New York and Ground Zero is on my list of places I want to visit one day.
ReplyDeletemy mom's best friend always had a tuesday meeting at WTC since she consulted with the port authority regarding concrete. She didn't go that day because she was sick. Miracle. And then afterwards she lived on our sofa for a bit as we lived clsoer to the city than here for her constant trips into the city to help deal with the tunnels, pipes that were destroyed.
ReplyDeleteIt is so scary to think about the lives touched by 9/11.
Huck's american flag tank is too adorable!
ReplyDeletehttp://thelionthewitchandmywardrobe.blogspot.com/
I used to work down there too and it's strange to go back now and see me then and me now and all the feelings that come with working near the 9/11 site. you described ifot perfectly. glad y'all had such a fun day.
ReplyDeleteWhat great photos! It is amazing how beautiful they have made this site!
ReplyDeleteoooh working there would make me anxious too.
ReplyDeletecan't wait to check it out when i head to the city in a few weeks :)
i went there in May! it was a super emotional experience. definitely added to by the many visitors centers surrounding the place with all the stories and videos....and i was totally bothered by some teenage girls taking pics and laughing and horsing around by the memorial, and i wanted to yell, "YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE ANY IDEA!" ...i decided not to yell, but it did make me reflect on whether or not i've acted respectfully enough at various memorials i've been to for events i don't remember.
ReplyDeleteWow, that had to be emotional. Cool post.
ReplyDeletewww.highheelstosneakers.com
LOVE the 13 year old Natalie. Super cute :).
ReplyDeleteIt was pretty busy when we were in NYC in June (and I didn't know you had to register online and I thought it cost money and despite the good that the money would do we were trying to be frugal) but I will definitely try to check out the memorial when I return in October.
ReplyDeleteCool to see updated pictures of the memorial! Fun fact: my uncle was one of the final group of artists (I think it was like ten people?) amongst whom they picked the final memorial design. He had this amazing huge brass angel (sort of abstract but definitely an angel) design with all the victims names to be inscribed around the base of the angel. Would've been SO cool in downtown NYC. :)
ReplyDeleteI was there today! I thought it was amazing. Photos cannot do it justice. The falls drop 30 feet. I agree, it is a must see in NYC. Also, I have said to myself a few times on this trip..."Wouldn't that be the coolest if I ran into Nat The Fat Rat and her charming Huck?". I had no idea I came so close:).
ReplyDeletehow incredible! i feel like you've been everywhere. i really want to visit but i also feel like it would be incredibly emotional.
ReplyDeletexo TJ
so emotional. definitely want to visit someday. love little henny guy in these pics!
ReplyDeletelooks like a great place to visit. love reminiscing with old photos. and huck totally looks like little blake in that pic!
ReplyDeletethere is a tree there that is from our Survivor tree here in OKC. it makes me cry everytime so i don't know if i could manage to visit the memorial when i come up next.
ReplyDeleteVery cool. My hubs and I went a couple of weeks ago as well. We were en route to Israel and stopped in NYC - from Grimaldi's pizza to the memorial :)
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