Visiting the 9-11 Memorial

As you know from my previous blogs, my office overlooks the 9-11 Memorial in New York City and the surrounding construction at the World Trade Center. I have had a bird's eye view of all of the rebuilding and recently I had the chance to tour the grounds of the 9-11 Memorial.

I started my day in anticipation to what I was going to see at the 9-11 Memorial. The lines and security were minimal and once you reached the gates to the memorial it was breath-taking. The entrance opens up on the south end where you see Tower One in the far left, the museum in front of you, the fountains flanking each side and construction around the perimeter.

As you go in, there are maps showing you where you can go and what you will see. I had done some homework and prepared beforehand. I wanted to see the name of our friend Michael Ferugio and the brick dedicated to my dad. I slowly panned the memorial and took in as much as I could. I headed to the south memorial pool and watched the water cascade from below the names down into two sets of waterfalls. It is impressive.

Everything is very clearly marked and I was able to find Micahel's name amongst many others. I stood there and reflected a bit. I had a bio and photo that I had printed out from the 9-11 Memorial website so I folded it and stood it up on his name. The names are cut into the metal and many visitors have put their own markers like you would in a cemetery.

I placed his bio in and stood there thinking about the brief time I knew him, his wife and other friends. As I stood there, other visitors were taking pictures of my addition and reading his bio. Some even asked me if I knew him so I shared with them a brief tribute.

I moved around to the rest of the memorial. The museum is not open yet, but you can see two steel beams left from the original buildings as well as a surviving tree that had been moved off the site and them returned for this memorial.

There are also cobblestone walks that people donated in memory of lives who were not lost on 9-11. My family has a cobblestone for my dad who passed about eight years ago. The Web site tells you what cobblestone is placed in his name but it's not engraved so as not to detract from the memorial pools.

As I looked around the memorial I saw tours of school kids, other tour groups and many visitors from out of town. I heard many languages being spoken, asking others to take pictures of each other. People were interacting with one another, asking where they were when the buildings came down.

Before I left I said goodbye to Michael and was pleased to see a steady flow of visitors viewing the bio I put in the memorial. So for as long as that paper will be in there people will know a little more about the man. And that is what this memorial is all about. Never Forgetting. 

I found the 9-11 memorial to be a great reminder of the tragedy and loss we suffered 10 years ago, but you can also sense the calm and healing that this space brings. I recommend going to the memorial.