Never Forget
September 10, 2024
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I share this post every year because it's important to me that we have a visual reminder of this day, now more than 20 years ago. Can you even believe it?
It's crazy to me that there is a whole generation that wasn't even alive when 9/11 occurred.
If you've read my blog for long, you know New York City is near and dear to us. It's a city we love so very much. I always knew I'd love it, and when my husband took me on my first trip (just a few days before September 11, 2001) I found out I was right.
If you've read my blog for long, you know New York City is near and dear to us. It's a city we love so very much. I always knew I'd love it, and when my husband took me on my first trip (just a few days before September 11, 2001) I found out I was right.
This photo always gives me chills. We're at the top of the Statue of Liberty and you can barely see the towers behind me:
This was nine days before 9/11. Nine days later and the towers were gone.
My husband was a band director at the time, and a few months after the attacks we were supposed to travel to Japan for a band trip.
He canceled that trip and instead we took the students to New York City. SO many New Yorkers stopped us numerous times and thanked the kids for visiting.
These first photos are from the Ground Zero Museum and tell the story of that day. This location is separate from the new museum — it used to be closer to Ground Zero but it looks like it’s moved to 14th street. If you visit the city I highly recommend visiting both.
I let the photos do the talking (forgive the quality, all were taken with a phone over the years):
![117_thumb[1]_thumb[5]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOE3iYiauVCGv86SlibWrXubM7yeXGWqOrXEJtQRnreNMvMz5SZ74c46vBr_yZfiulgW2sM81iln_MyN24P8Si8LSNjdLnQbubBp2vb1ulx_tHb39lyCHPX5qT9d9R4AzakzN6O2djdec/rw/?imgmax=800 "117_thumb[1]_thumb[5]")
These first photos are from the Ground Zero Museum and tell the story of that day. This location is separate from the new museum — it used to be closer to Ground Zero but it looks like it’s moved to 14th street. If you visit the city I highly recommend visiting both.
I let the photos do the talking (forgive the quality, all were taken with a phone over the years):
![117_thumb[1]_thumb[5]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmh1TjsTjLB7bhgAkMJcJlhbfPxoX3oXnHUCbjMAMwc3TsVMqV4dhBPl0YDXntyuYZottN3c0g5C05QKM8T038Ghr6fhtSF9XGpaQ-9cBVR6ZigqMtThqQgZuBKDpF4071Xw68ynwMYGk/s1600-h/117_thumb%25255B1%25255D_thumb%25255B5%25255D%25255B2%25255D.jpg "117_thumb[1]_thumb[5]")
The new 9/11 Museum looks so small from the outside, and you think it will only take an hour or so get through. Plan accordingly because this museum literally goes deep into the Earth and you can spend hours in there.
It is one of the most well done museums I've ever visited, especially considering the content. The beginning is a tour of the footings and walls of the towers (see below).
Don't miss the room in the middle in this part of the museum -- it holds photos of each of the victims as well as video about each one. There are no cameras allowed in this space. It is most definitely a memorial.
There is a separate room at the end of the main part of the museum and it can be easy to miss -- but it holds most of the photos, artifacts and videos.
It may not be suitable for younger kids but our (then) nine-year-old did fine. (There are parts of this room we steered him away from.) There are no cameras allowed in that area as well.
If you go give yourself plenty of time and be prepared for the heaviness in your heart you will feel as you walk through and when you leave. It is overwhelming and unavoidable.
I think every person that visits New York City should visit at least once.
This artwork signifies the color of the beautiful blue sky on that morning. There are 2,983 squares -- one for each person lost on September 11th and at the 1993 bombing.
God bless all those we lost on that day and their families. God Bless America.
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| Freedom Tower |
If you have plans to visit NYC, be sure to check out my guide for the must-sees on a quick trip. This is especially helpful if it's your first time there.
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Thank you for this post. I have visited the museum and agree it is a must for everyone to visit.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this each year. I appreciate it so much. We all NEED to remember. It is definitely on my list to go to NYC and visit the museum.
ReplyDeleteA well written very tasteful tribute. May we never forget.
ReplyDeleteI have not been to New York since the museum was built. Your photos had tears running down my face.
ReplyDeleteReading this post every year still hurts my heart. I was there three months after 9/11/01 and everyone kept saying, "Thank you for coming." Thank you Sarah for sharing this post every year.
ReplyDeleteWe haven't made it to NYC yet to see the 9/11 Memorial and museum but it is at the top of our list to do in two years. in 2017 we went to the Flight 93 Memorial. It was so moving! I listened to the messages that were left for loved ones. I think by the time I left the exhibit, I was exhausted from so much crying. The families and the planners really did a great job on the memorial as well as the museum.
ReplyDeleteThank you for remembering 9/11. I've always wondered what the Memorial is like. Thank you for your description of it and the events.
ReplyDeleteIt's been 18 years and I still feel that "I can't even..." feeling. But we must. Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteWe took our kids to the museum 4 years ago, my son was 12, my daughter was 17. It was probably one of the most life-changing day of our lives. All of us were overcome with emotion. It is a must see for everyone. Thank you writing this post every year, I hope it inspires people to go see this incredible tribute to the many beautiful souls lost on that day. I know my family will never forget. May God bless the victims and their families and may God bless America.
ReplyDeleteI have been to both the Memorial and the Museum. Words cannot describe the feelings it invoked in me. Every American should try to go and see...
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for posting this incredible tribute. The pictures are amazing, and heart wrenching to see. I used to live in NYC and I worked several blocks from the WTC. I worked several blocks away and unfortunately witnessed all of the horrific events which unfolded that fateful day. Seeing firsthand the plane hitting the building, smoke & paper filling the air and the many many people jumping out the windows taking their own lives are all imagined etched into my soul forever. I no longer live in the NYC area. I've been back many times since but it took me 13 years just to be able to go to the memorial, the footprints of the towers. It's an extremely well done moving tribute, and hard to believe it's where those incredible towers once stood. I have not been able to bring myself to visit the museum. I was in tears just looking at your pictures, I'm not sure how I would make it through the museum. It's touching to me that so many people outside of New York still remember that day, and pay tribute to the victims. I will always be a New Yorker at heart and will never ever forget that day and the lives lost. Thank you again for sharing. 🇺🇸😪🙏
ReplyDeleteThank you for doing this every year. I love NYC also. I used to visit New York a lot during the 80s. A long, long time ago. The holding company for the company I retired from had their office in the Twin Towers...or at least I thought so on that morning in 2001. I found out later they had moved a few months prior to another building. I will never forget watching that second plane and knowing that the world would never be quite the same again. I will never forget.
ReplyDeleteThank you for so beautifully and gently reminding us to Never Forget by posting this every year Sarah. Your pictures are so powerful and gripping, they bring back the horrific reality of the epic loss of that day.
ReplyDeleteMay God Bless you and God bless America.
Thank you for a this post. I haven't made it back to NYC since the late 90's. I do hope to get there and see the memorial some day. One of our cub scout dads was lost in the Pentagon attack. It is tough to relive the memories, but we truly must never forget.
ReplyDeleteLove your blog…
ReplyDeleteHeartbreaking to the core...still 20 years later. So senseless. In 2003 I had to go to New York and even then it took my breath away.
ReplyDeleteThis was very nicely put together. Thank you.
I am a life long New Yorker. My family visited the Museum for the first time on Saturday. My husband was a firefighter in the FDNY and lost many friends. Having lived it, he did not want to visit the memorial. But he was glad we went. It is still a very emotional day for those who live in the NY, NJ, CT region.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post every year, it is very moving, I'm in tears just thinking of all the loss again. 60 Minutes did a very nice special on FDNY last night that was very emotional. We visited the Pentagon Memorial a few years back, but have never been to NY. I'm not sure I could make it through, but hope to visit one day. It doesn't feel like 21 years ago.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this every year. I cry every time. I am a flight attendant and was based in New York when this happened… I wasn’t working that day which I was very grateful for. I have never been able to bring myself to go to the museum although I know I should. Maybe soon…
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post. We will never forget
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post. So heart wrenching, and we should never forget. ❤️
ReplyDeleteThank you Sarah for your moving tribute of 9/11! Your pictures show what the museum is all about! It is something that we should all visit! Thank you for helping us all not to forget what happened on that day!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this.
ReplyDelete