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I just returned from a tip to New York City…first visit since September 11, 2001. Traveling on business, it seemed appropriate to visit the World Trade Center site. Curious as to what others thought, I sent a quick message to my subscribers, and was overwhelmed with the response. Several having lost loved ones that day, or had stories to tell. Some discouraged me to go to the site, most did not, and some gave recommendations of where to go, what to look for, etc.

I made it a priority to visit the site, but was caught by surprise. Here are some thoughts (and photos) I captured in my recorder:

“After a long walk I finally am approaching the fence covered in green netting, dust flies through the air as the wind whips through the construction site. I can hear myself breathing, and I realized my heart was racing. Why is my heart racing? Afterall, I had a good idea what I would see, a hole in the ground…right? Then I realized that many there had the same feeling, a sense of fear and reverence, as we all looked into the hole where two massive buildings once stood. With a single historical event, nearly 3000 people were lost. Normally giggly school girls aged 13-15 were silenced as they gazed on the site, and at photographic memoirs cataloging the events of that fateful day. It was as if people were expecting something to happen… This was MUCH more than a hole in the ground.

Then it hit me.

Identity. I was identifying with the lowest common denominator of humankind. All of us are susceptible to the grasps of death. It is no respecter of persons, income, or social status. It comes to most as an uninvited, yet expected permanent guest. It was also a global identity in shared sorrow as many gathered around the television for hours…hours as if in a trance of disbelief even though the networks aired the brutal events in what seemed to be a numbing loop on the screen. With hope, a hope that some might be saved.”

I spoke to many New Yorkers who live just a few blocks away, and they say they cannot bare the thought, and have no plans to go down there. Others remember the towers as faithful friends reflecting the sun as they took the train to work in the morning, forever gone, and forever missed…not the building so much, as what they represented.

I could go on about that 2 hour visit around the site, there are no words to properly describe what I felt as I looked at the photos and the faces of those gazing upon them, so I will end this post. Before I do, let me encourage you, if you have the opportunity to visit the site, please do. And if you have visited the site, feel free to comment below…what were your impressions.

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