Remembering 9/11

Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?

Were you in the yard with your wife and children
Or working on some stage in L.A.?
Did you stand there in shock at the sight of that black smokeRisin' against that blue sky?
Did you shout out in anger, in fear for your neighbor.
Or did you just sit down and cry? 
Alan Jackson - Where were you when the world stopped turning lyrics

To post or not to post on September 11th. That was the question. 

I decided to write a short post in remembrance and memory off all those who lost their lives and all those who serve our country to protect us. Thank You all!

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View from the Empire State Building on 9/11 2006

It is hard to believe that I am old enough to have lived through a moment that will forever be relived in our children's history books. Although in Oregon and as far as you can get from New York City, I still remember waking up that morning with the awful feeling that there was nothing I could do but to sit and watch.

Artifacts collected at Ground Zero and in the Ground Zero Museum Workshop

I remember my Mom calling and waking me. She was at work and wanted me to turn on the news and tell her what was going on. That started the hours upon hours of watching tv to watch the horrifying details. I was in college and that day at school nearly every classroom had a tv in the room and turned on. Things were quiet. Things were sad.

Fast forward five years later, I was lucky enough to have the chance to not only visit NYC but be there on September 11th. It was an amazing experience to see and try to comprehend the tragedy that unfolded there.

We were also lucky to have the chance to visit the Ground Zero Museum Workshop and meet Gary Marlon Suson, the official photographer of the Uniformed Firefighters Association and founder of the Ground Zero Museum Workshop. He was the only person authorized to take photographs at Ground Zero during the 11 month long recovery effort. His work is nothing short of amazing, touching and very emotional. If you are ever in NYC you must visit this museum. It is breathtaking and mind boggling to see the artifacts that could survive this ordeal.

Here are some photographs of my visit...

Flag at half staff at the Statue of Liberty, looking to NYC where the towers once stood.

The Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and New Jersey in the background.

Ground Zero on September 11, 2006. Families of loved ones lost line up for a remembrance ceremony.

The subway terminal next to where the towers once stood.

Looking out from under the subway terminal to now Ground Zero. Notice the charred buildings in the background.

Ground Zero on September 11, 2006. (You can still see all the windows blown out on the background buildings.)

                

The Empire State Building lit up in remembrance.

Artifacts at the Ground Zero Museum Workshop

Artifacts at the Ground Zero Museum Workshop

             

Time stood still...a clock found in the rubble, stopped at exactly the time the South Tower collapses.

In memory to those we have lost. We will never forget....