September 11th

Every September my dad travels to NYC for work. In 2001, he had a flight scheduled to depart SFO at 7 am on September 11th. At the time, he was a teacher for youth in our church "Bible Study" {Seminary} in the early mornings and he was not able to fly out until 9 am. He even had dinner reservations at the top of the World Trade Center that same night. I believe that there was divine intervention that kept my dad safe that day, and while I was in New York last week the same familiar cord kept striking me; it was close to the anniversary of 9/11, it was 11 years ago, my dad was still going to the same business meetings the same time of year in the same city, and how thankful I was to have my whole family safe on that tragic day.

While my dad was working I got to go to the 9/11 museum and memorial. Since today marks the 11th anniversary I would like to share the pictures from that visit.

There was a lot of conflict about what to do with the 9/11 site. The families of the victims wanted to keep it as a memorial, but there was the financial side that wanted to build back up to keep the city moving and to show that it won't be left hallow. So they divided up the property equally and placed the memorial pools where the twin towers were. There were a total of 8 buildings lost and they plan to rebuild six to represent what was lost {the other two are the memorial pools}. This building you see here {above ^} is the tallest and will be a total of 1776 feet high - that number because that was the year America declared its independence. I love that!! The architects are putting so much thought and beauty into the buildings that are being rebuilt. They worked really hard to make sure that they pleased both sides of the parties that differed. {See the new plans in the image below}

If you notice, the buildings gradually get shorter. They wanted to represent the gradual steps leading up to the tallest building. They are all also a silver color to reflect light back into the memorial. This will also keep the property reverent by not allowing there to be commercial walk ways into these building that face the memorial. They want the memorial to be held as a respectful and peaceful place of New York.

This is in the museum. They have pictures of all the victims from 9/11 on some of their happiest days. This is where I cried because I got to see pictures of them on their wedding day or with their children... it was so tender and amazing to get a glimpse of who they really were.

This is one of the memorial pools ...where tower two stood.

This tree is amazing! After the collapse of the towers, a fireman found this tree and believed it was still alive. He took it back to Brooklyn and cared for it while it continued to grow. He said, "It was amazing to find life in the refuge of the tragedy." He donated it to the memorial and they planted the tree here. They encourage families to place items on the tree as they please. Earlier that day there was a police badge left and a few days previous a dream catcher. I love this so much!!

There were cranes made to represent peace, love, and hope. It hangs in the museum.

This was a window that was recovered from the sight. It was from the first plane that hit the towers.

These are the names that wrap around the pools.

A beautiful wall piece that says "May we never forget." It is a tribute to the NYFD.

Thank you to all those who serve{d} as our nations heroes and also those who we have lost - we will remember you and you will be missed. May we come together and be united as a country and society on this day.