Remembrance and Release
In the summer of 2012, I visit the 9/11 Memorial site for the first time, accompanied by my wife and youngest son. It is a cool and overcast day. People leave flowers, mementos, and notes by the names of loved ones, friends, maybe colleagues or complete strangers? You also see this at the Vietnam Wall in DC and it is very moving to see people interact with a memorial on such a personal level.
Against my expectation, the day turns out to be a cathartic experience. Somehow, the visit finally allows me to put some emotional distance between my present self and the events of September 2001. The Memorial Park is a healing place.
The twin fountains in the footprint of the towers inspire a reverent silence in the same way as do the Vietnam Wall and the Arizona Memorial. Like those memorials, there is an inscribed litany of the fallen. Beyond those memorials and cutting even deeper into the heart is the simple phrase following so many of the engraved names, “and her unborn child”.
