Saturday, September 11, 2010

9/11

Dropping a rose at the reflecting pool.

Tribute in Light from Liberty State Park 9/11/2010

I worked at the 9/11 Ceremony near the World Trade Center Site on Saturday. My job was to help direct the musicians where to go, and to help direct the family members coming off of the stage after they read their list of names. So I spent most of the the morning directly behind the stage, dressed in a suit, with sunglasses on and a "surveillance" earpiece attached to my walkie talkie which kept me in touch with the stage managers. The security was the tightest I've seen in years, partly due to Vice President Joe Biden visiting, and partly due to the hoopla over the proposed mosque. Looking up I could see snipers on surrounding rooftops on buildings all around the stage. I saw Mr. Vice President briefly as he walked to and from the stage. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani and current New Jersey Governor Chris Christie walked up and were standing right next to me. So close that I must have alarmed either Rudy himself or one of his security guards, because a New York State Trooper came over to me and said, "If you don't mind me asking, who are you with?" I was a bit caught off guard by the question, and stumbled to answer. Luckily, someone working with me came to my rescue and said "he's with us." I overheard Mr. Guiliani's wife or girlfriend say to him, "he's doing something else." It's not like I tried to high five the Governor or shake hands with Mr. Mayor, but I guess I alarmed someone. I guess I have to try harder to not look like Secret Service next time I'm working an event like this. 

As hard as it is for me to be there, it was good to be there. I've felt for along time that I lost the ability to feel emotion on 9/11. I think I go back there almost every year hoping to find it. Every time one of the reader's got to the part where they pay tribute to their relative, I had to fight back tears. It was good to see the relatives, and to be able to talk with them briefly. One man came off the stage and was visibly shaken. He looked lost. I went to show him how to get back to the families tent, and he stopped next to me and said, " I need a minute." For a second, I thought he wanted a hug, and I was mad at myself for not giving him one, because I really think he needed one at that moment. After a few moments, he went on his way, still looking lost. I felt terrible for not reaching out. I saw another young man, must have been about 17 come off the stage after reading his father's name, nearly collapse into his mother's arms. He was crying so hard. I imagined how old he would have been when he lost his dad, probably just a young boy. His father would have been proud.

I walked down to the reflecting pool at the World Trade Center Site and left a single rose. The one thing that was palpable in the air is how fresh these wounds are for the family members. Nine years on, and the emotions were so raw that you would think it happened yesterday. The site itself is unrecognizable from the last time I was there in 2007. No longer do you have to walk down a long ramp into "the pit." The site has been rebuilt up to street level, and The Freedom Tower now rises 36 stories above the site. It was good to see progress there, finally. 

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