World Trade Center reflections

That was a lot to reflect on as we set out today for the World Trade Center site from Central Park. We found ourselves fighting traffic and the maze of one way streets and limited turns on Manhattan streets to get there. After some turns and twists, we finally found ourselves heading to lower Manhattan on Broadway. We somehow managed to find some street parking near Battery Park, perhaps because it was Sunday.

We were not sure what to expect as signs directed us and our feet to the World Trade Center site. As we got there it provoked thoughts and stirred emotions in us as we contemplated what happened there.

As we got there, we encountered individuals who apparently were trying to make money by selling books about the World Trade Center. A passerby had commented that these book sellers were not supposed to be there. It seemed surreal, as if these book sellers did not contemplate the seriousness of the moment. I was contemplating how it must have felt and what it meant to those who made Manhattan their home, to have such a tragic event happen in their own backyard.

I was at a loss for words at that moment. Bonnie was concerned that young Nathan would be troubled by it all. I asked him, “What do you think, Nathan?” He paused and shrugged as he overlooked the World Trade Center site, where one could only see the rails that once took the subways under the Twin Towers. Nathan noted, “It’s a big area”. He then asked, “Where exactly was it?” and other questions of a technical nature which we tried to answer the best we could. I recalled that I had been on a subway on those rails under the Twin Towers a few years ago with my dad. All of us took pictures, including Nathan. The site seemed all cleaned up as if it were waiting to decide what to do next, in contrast to the destruction etched into our memories by TV and pictures.

There were signs of hope. As we were walking through the site, we saw a memorial set up by New York and New Jersey police thanking the American public for their support through this ordeal. We left the site through a walkway leading through the World Financial Center, a complex of intact, impressive buildings next door contrasting to the destruction pictured in our minds. We then made our way from the World Financial Center to Battery Park. At an entrance to the park, we saw another memorial dedicated to members of the police department that had lost their lives. Members of the New York Fire Department and members of the everyday public also lost their lives. They and each one of us are important, making some difference to their local community and the world around us. Everyone has made a difference, no matter how simple or obscure. Each one of us can make a positive difference.