Remembering 9/11

I remember going through some neighborhoods in Dresden and Berlin a number of years ago noticing how they were so pristine, organized, and well designed. I said to a friend, "What a contrast to some of the places in the Bronx, Brooklyn, or Queens." He responded, "That is because they were bombed in WW II and rebuilt from total destruction." I remember visiting the famous Lutheran church called Frauenkirche in Dresden in the early 1980s. It was a ruin with pieces scattered all around the ground. I came back decades later to discover that it had been completely restored, with a big statue of Martin Luther outside. One of the blessings of living in America is that, with the exception of Pearl Harbor and 9/11, we have been untouched by war.

Today we remember 9/11. My memory is still clear about how the twin towers looked for the many years since they were built, as I would often visit. I also remember the rubble and ruin and carnage from the attack of those planes hitting the World Trace Center. The site and the smell remain indelibly stained on my heart.

Today the names of those who died are being read as they have been for over 20 years, and I thought of the site that is now rebuilt, with one tower, reaching to the sky, the beautiful pool of water, the new buildings and neighborhoods that surround it. To look at it now, it looks like nothing ever happened there. People are going about their life, cars and buses are buzzing in all directions, businesses are open and thriving. The event, for all practical purposes, has been physically erased. Hidden among the modern new construction there is a museum and the outside memorial site, but everything that was there is gone. All that remains is the stain that is left in our memory.  We are reminded of that stain every September 11 when, during the roll call, nearly 3000 names are read.

The neighborhood may be rich, pristine, and burgeoning but, somehow, we cannot remove the stain of what took place here so many years ago. May we always remember.

MEH