Remembering.

Photos: Joanna Hudson

.
I went to New York City with my parents when I was in 6th or 7th grade. I remember going to Bloomingdales & wanting to buy one of those crew neck sweatshirts that had a little horse on the pocket. My older sisters wore them, & I just wanted to be like them. I chose a version in cream, with a pink horse. Other memories include staying at The Plaza Hotel, going on a carriage ride through Central Park, & walking past these incredibly tall buildings downtown, knowing that they were famous (but not knowing why), & then listening to my Dad say that this is where the terrorists set off a bomb in the parking garage in 1993. I was amazed that such a terrible thing could happen in the United States.

.

I was working at my Dad's dental office during the summer of 2001. His office's 6:00am start time was great for him (as an early bird), but as a still-teenager who had just graduated from high school & was trying to enjoy her last summer as a child, the daily 5am alarm clock was tough to work with. Still, I managed to do it, & on the morning of Tuesday September 11th, 2001 the routine was the same as it had been all summer. I woke up, got ready, & headed upstairs to the kitchen where my mom had kindly prepared breakfast for my dad & me. It was likely warm oatmeal. The news was on, as it always was. Shortly after 5:45 Pacific Time, the regular program broke to the scene of The World Trade Center in New York City on a bright & crisp September morning. A plan had struck the side of the building that I had visited years before, & flames & smoke were shooting out of the side. We were confused, & concerned knowing that people were likely injured, but drove to work as usual. This concern changed to a very real fear when all of the TV's in my dad's operatory rooms showed the second tower being hit by yet another plane, destroying any hope that this was merely an accident. Around 7am, when we sat there watching the first tower collapse, we cancelled the rest of the patients for the day & went home, shell shocked. I remember sitting in front of the TV the rest of the day, in absolute awe. It absolutely did not seem real. A few weeks later, I was off to my first quarter of college at Western Washing University & the country was as patriotic as I've ever seen it. Flags were everywhere.

.

Four years later, I found myself living just blocks from what is now referred to as Ground Zero. I cried the first time we visited the site, cried when I went to the WTC Tribute Center & cried when one of my first coworkers in the city explained to me how she had lost her cousin that day. Suddenly, it became so much more real to me, because the people that I interacted with on a daily basis had been there or lost someone. Before that time, it was only something that I had watched on the news, like some terrible movie.

.

A few years ago, my sister Joanna was in the city doing press advance for President Bush. Mike & I were able to participate in an event that was held at St. Paul's Church in the Financial District, a prayer service hosted by President Bush for the families of the victims. As I helped to check in the hundreds of family members who had lost someone in those towers, looked into their faces & saw their pain, I could barely contain my emotions. It changed me.

.

Joanna took these pictures a few years ago & I think they are so perfect & beautiful. I think I'll post them every year. The lights that shoot up in the sky each year on this day comfort me. They inspire hope & faith, while at the same time reminding me, along with the rest of New York City & the world, that we just can't forget. I think we'll have a great view from our rooftop tonight. I hope I can share some photos, because 9/11 effected us all. We all have a story of where we were & how it has & continues to change us.