Remembering 9/11

The Freedom Tower at night.

Today is my week-aversary with New York City. (I didn't even do the week or month-aversary thing with my boyfriend, but THIS IS A BIG DEAL.) As much as I want to post about how amazing my apartment is or how much fun my roommate, Marla, and I are already having, I think, as a new New Yorker and proud American, it is important to recognize 9/11 first.

My mom helped me move up last Thursday and left on Monday. The whole time she was here we were busy unpacking, waiting for deliveries and buying things for my apartment. We even took an adventure to the Target in Harlem. But mom insisted that we would make time to visit the 9/11 Memorial.

Mom and I made our reservations to visit the Memorial on Sept. 9, two days before Sept. 11. We decided to go later in the day, and I highly suggest going in the evening around sunset so you can see the memorial during the day and at night when all the lights come on. The site is so calming and powerful at the same time. I love to look at the pools while the water and the victims' names are illuminated. When we were leaving a woman told us the waterfalls were like all of our tears and represent how we will always remember those who were lost. I thought that was a pretty cool way to look at it.

One of the pools. My photos don't do them justice, because they are breathtaking. 

The museum is still under construction, but it will be awesome once it's finished. 

The park area surrounding the pools is so soothing and peaceful.

(Source: Associated Press)The Survivor Tree in Spring. 

I wish I had gotten a better picture of the Survivor Tree, which was planted as part of the original design of the World Trade Center. It survived both attacks and was found alive under the rubble of three buildings.

The Freedom Tower at Dusk. 
The over-all feeling I got from visiting the 9/11 Memorial was peace. If you visit you'll do a lot of reflecting and thinking. It's not at all a touristy place. It's somewhere every New Yorker and visitor should go at least once.

My experience with 9/11
I remember exactly where I was when the first tower was attacked. I was in 6th grade at St. Juliana's Catholic School. I was in Mrs. Halem's math class. A teacher came in and whispered something in Mrs. Halem's ear and she immediately started to cry. For the rest of the afternoon I watched the news with my class until my mom came early to pick me up. When my dad came home from work, he took one look at the TV and immediately started sobbing. The only other times I had seen him cry before that day were when my sister was born and when our dog died. My dad was born in New York, and has a special bond with the city.

I am happy to live in New York. Thrilled, actually. I feel safe, protected even. The other day something fell out of my pocket and a man stopped to tell me. A woman fainted near my apartment and a crowd of people stopped to make sure she was ok. Everyone in my neighborhood is so welcoming and friendly. Don't listen to any stereotypes you hear. New York is a city of kind people, perhaps bonded by what happened on September 11, 2001.