A Day of Healing and Remembering

This piece is being written after a day filled with ceremonies, greetings, tears, sadness and endless discussions. In past years I have written reflection pieces on the pain, the sorrow and the loss of life of our fellow Americans.   

Today, as I do every year on September 11th, I visited the places that are both personally meaningful to me and so many Americans across our land.  The pain is evident and the reconciliation of the unprovoked loss of life still remains.

As I walked the halls of the 9-11 Museum, I focused not just on the artifacts on display, but on the stories that are filled with the best America has to offer in terms of community and patriotism. Such an example is that of art teacher Laura Orvin who asked her students at the Porter Gaud School in Charleston, South Carolina to express their understanding of patriotism through drawings. The drawings were then enlarged and placed on a large banner sent with accompanying letters to then Mayor Rudy Guliani. The banner was meant to cheer up the tired rescue workers at ground zero.

Then there was the large American flag that was on draped at ground zero from the very first day of the attack. This flag had seen better days after waving through years of relief efforts and construction. The flag was restored and nurtured by hands as far away as Kansas. People across the land were able to bring their skills of restoration to a flag that had become a symbol of hope and strength.

As I continued to walk through the museum and survey the mass space, I came across amazing works of art that could only be completed by hands of love. Such a piece was the ceramic urn by art Professor Tom Lane from the University of Minnesota. Though professor Lane was far removed from the attacks, he watched the events unfold, as many Americans did, on television. Six years later, the ceramicist was spurred to create a series of vessels. One of these vessels was the Urn cast in porcelain bearing the names of all 2, 977 victims, as well as the speech by U.S. President George W. Bush on the night of the attacks. My brother and I scanned every inch of the large vessel with the tiny font for our beloved Joseph until we finally located it. Only someone with love of country could create such a beautiful masterpiece. Mr. Lane’s urn would not be the only story of love I would encounter as I strolled the halls.

There was the Honda motorcycle that was lovingly restored for Firefighter Gerard Baptiste of Company number 9. The 1979 bike was purchased by the firefighter in the summer of 2001 with the purpose of working on it. Unfortunately, he gave his life on 9/11 and perished in the North Tower. His fellow firefighters were inspired to restore the bike and with the help of Honda and motorcycle enthusiasts nationwide, they completed the transformation. There are ten roses painted on the cover of the bike’s gas tank symbolizing the ten members of Ladder 9 and Engine Company 33 who also perished wth Gerard Baptiste.

I returned to Ladder 101 after my visit to the 9/11 site to find all the new firefighters in place and ready to serve the families and their veteran firefighters. The respect and admiration displayed to us all by these young FDNY members as they escorted us from the site, served us food and made us feel at home in a place they know holds the deepest of ties to loved ones lost on that day…it hugged us like the most comforting quilt. I realized that we may face another 9/11 sooner rather than later, and that when we do, the American spirit will prevail. Americans put our differences aside when it counts most, and we step up to walk side by side as long as it is needed.