9.11.04 Tribute in light
- Thread starter Ebbtide
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I grew up on a hill in NJ, we could see the city from there. Now it's just the Empire State Building greeting me, when I visit my grandmother's old house. The lights are a fitting memorial. I was working in Manhattan then. I'll never forget.
Esav Benyamin
MidniteSuperMod
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I saw a beam last night. I'm in north Jersey. Early in the evening, it lit up low lying clouds. Later the sky was clear and it went way up. It's a nice tradition, but a terrible memory.
Find the enemy. Kill him.
Find the enemy. Kill him.
MelancholyMutt
Doggy Style
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Here's another point of view...
I was there to watch both planes fly in and hit. I was there to help drag injured people hit by debris. I was there when jumpers landed only a few hundred hards away. I watched the buildings tumbled and watched my health turn to crap for years afterwards. Lost were friends, acquaintances and neighbors. I wanna forget for a while. Survivors guilt makes for a very bad night's rest.
I was there to watch both planes fly in and hit. I was there to help drag injured people hit by debris. I was there when jumpers landed only a few hundred hards away. I watched the buildings tumbled and watched my health turn to crap for years afterwards. Lost were friends, acquaintances and neighbors. I wanna forget for a while. Survivors guilt makes for a very bad night's rest.
Gollnick
Musical Director
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I always like to point out that if you read the artist's statement (which is on the web) you'll see that the Tribute in Light (IMHO one of the greatest, perhaps the greatest, contemporary art work) is not a memorial to those who died but a tribute to the volunteers and rescue workers who responded. It is the Tribute in Light, not the Memorial in Light. And I love it!
Esav Benyamin
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Whatever anyone calls it, it points the way to an open wound.
I have an odd set of feelings about 9/11. On one hand, I was hundreds of miles away that morning, in upstate NY. I watched on TV like millions of others and /saw/ the second plane hit, /saw/ the collapse, and /saw/ the chaos, but I wasn't there.
I don't in any way, feel as if I were, or presume to have a clue what it felt like to be there. But watching my hometown, where I was born and raised lose a part of its soul was wrenching in a different way. The biggest trauma to me personally was seeing it, knowing what was happening, knowing that my family was in the city, that I had friends blocks away, and knowing, absolutely, that I could do absolutely nothing.
Others have described their feelings in eloquent terms; shock, dismay, horror, anger, and pain. I felt all of that, but it was muted, distant. I was never really afraid, just distantly concerned. The worst part, for me, was the frustration. I felt as if I was...somehow less of a New Yorker, less of a Good Person for being so far away when my city was in pain. I felt tiny and worthless, able to see but not help.
Sure, I did all the 'helpful' things, I gave blood and donated what little money I had, but it didn't help. I felt like I had to be there. But I couldn't.
None of my family or friends were harmed, including a good friend's father who was a FDNY medic and his aunt who worked in Tower 1.
I recall vividly the muted happiness that I felt when I confirmed that all my loved ones were alive and unhurt (because nobody really was OK), and then I woke up the next day and celebrated my birthday.
I watched the 2-year anniversary lights from Bryant Park, and I was not moved. It was...distant. I could clearly see the symbolism and the beauty and simplicity of the memorial, and I thought it was perfect. But I didn't feel anything.
This year, maybe the lights were brighter, or bigger, or maybe the clouds were just right, because I could see them from my house. But still, I feel removed. I just wasn't there, and as happy I am that I wasn't, I wish I had been. Everyone is still alive and unhurt. It's the best birthday present I've ever gotten, and that I feel vividly.
I don't in any way, feel as if I were, or presume to have a clue what it felt like to be there. But watching my hometown, where I was born and raised lose a part of its soul was wrenching in a different way. The biggest trauma to me personally was seeing it, knowing what was happening, knowing that my family was in the city, that I had friends blocks away, and knowing, absolutely, that I could do absolutely nothing.
Others have described their feelings in eloquent terms; shock, dismay, horror, anger, and pain. I felt all of that, but it was muted, distant. I was never really afraid, just distantly concerned. The worst part, for me, was the frustration. I felt as if I was...somehow less of a New Yorker, less of a Good Person for being so far away when my city was in pain. I felt tiny and worthless, able to see but not help.
Sure, I did all the 'helpful' things, I gave blood and donated what little money I had, but it didn't help. I felt like I had to be there. But I couldn't.
None of my family or friends were harmed, including a good friend's father who was a FDNY medic and his aunt who worked in Tower 1.
I recall vividly the muted happiness that I felt when I confirmed that all my loved ones were alive and unhurt (because nobody really was OK), and then I woke up the next day and celebrated my birthday.
I watched the 2-year anniversary lights from Bryant Park, and I was not moved. It was...distant. I could clearly see the symbolism and the beauty and simplicity of the memorial, and I thought it was perfect. But I didn't feel anything.
This year, maybe the lights were brighter, or bigger, or maybe the clouds were just right, because I could see them from my house. But still, I feel removed. I just wasn't there, and as happy I am that I wasn't, I wish I had been. Everyone is still alive and unhurt. It's the best birthday present I've ever gotten, and that I feel vividly.
Ebbtide
Platinum Member
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Well Mutt, it wasn't my intention to make you feel worse. You have obviously been thru alot.
Instead I put it up for the rest of the community to see.
Especially those from outside of the tri-state area.
The light shines for you too Mutt.
MelancholyMutt
Doggy Style
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NO, Ebbtide, what you've done is a great service.
I thank you for it.
the thing is, the hijackers didn't just kill those people on the plane and in the towers. They killed the thousand Americans, Brits, Canadians, and even El Salvadorians in Afganistan and Iraq, and will continue to kill until this is finished. The world must remember, most of all, as the Japanese still remember Pearl Harbor more that we Americans do, those who terrorize must remember 9/11 in the same way much longer than Americans. I, as a New Yorker, wanna heal for a little while longer.
I thank you for it.
the thing is, the hijackers didn't just kill those people on the plane and in the towers. They killed the thousand Americans, Brits, Canadians, and even El Salvadorians in Afganistan and Iraq, and will continue to kill until this is finished. The world must remember, most of all, as the Japanese still remember Pearl Harbor more that we Americans do, those who terrorize must remember 9/11 in the same way much longer than Americans. I, as a New Yorker, wanna heal for a little while longer.