Tribute in Light 9.11.2011
I’ve actually found it quite difficult to write about football today (hence this post). As I walked out in NYC and saw the Tribute in Light, it reminded me of being here on this day 10 years ago. And while everyone has their own personal memories, for those of us in New York City, I’m sure there are certain similarities of our experiences that we share, especially on the days following September 11, 2001.
When the first plane hit the North Tower, the sirens began and continued to buzz without pause. It was a constant sound in the background until some point that evening. And then they stopped, the city was silent and the streets deserted. The only other time it has been this quiet in New York was recently when Hurricane Irene forced mandatory evacuations (“The Most Beautiful Hurricane Footage You’ll Ever See.”)
The next day when I walked outside with my friends, we noticed that the city had the strangest smell. I’m not sure exactly what that was from, be it Jet Fuel, disintegrated buildings or worse, which I don’t care to mention. It didn’t matter how far uptown and away from Ground Zero you went, you couldn’t escape that smell.
I also remember that when we went to donate blood, they didn’t need any. At that point we hoped there were survivors who would be rescued and needing medical attention, but the hospitals knew better, or at least knew there weren’t any demands on their resources yet.
And all of those missing people we hoped were alive remain in my head, because their loved ones made “Missing Person” fliers and put them up all over the city. Whether it was a fence, a wall, a firehouse, a lamp post or a street sign, those signs were everywhere. And as we realized that these missing persons weren’t going to be found, they gradually became death notices which told us the names and details and showed us the faces of those who had lost their lives in the World Trade Center. Some people had witnessed those deaths first hand and if you started talking to them, they might even mention the details of the people they saw fall from the sky, such as what they were wearing and even the color tie one had on. The images these memories produced were haunting.
And then the hundreds of funerals began for the firefighters and police officers. Especially with so many firefighters lost (343), many of those services took place in the middle of the city. The bagpipes would play and the men would line up in their uniforms and salute as the procession passed.
The pictures, the sirens, the bagpipes, the faces, the smell of death. We all shared that. And as everyone says, we will never forget. I had never seen a single documentary on September 11, 2001 until today and while they weren’t easy to watch, I was struck by how brave, selfless and good people can be, especially in the face of tragedy.
