Build the Memorial

Build the Memorial
posted by Larry Biddle on September 10, 2005 - 11:55am at echoditto
When I think about September 11, 2001, I remember how alone I felt that day. Two weeks before, I had moved to Portland, Maine for a new job. (I later learned those hijackers flew right over me on their way to the Boston airport.) Here I was in a strange place and didn’t know anyone. The world had turned upside down. The sense of doom and confusion took me back to when I was a kid in the ‘50s, growing up with the ever-present fear of bombs dropping from the sky. In school we practiced hiding under our desks to protect ourselves. Even then I suspected that was useless, since I knew a bomb would vaporize everything, including me.
I thought that dread had gone. It was only in remission, I guess.
This morning I awoke thinking about that terrible day, and about Katrina and what a mean-spirited, selfish and aggressive country we live in today. For a moment I was back in that same fearful and lonely place. That didn’t last long. Over many years, I have learned to look for the positive places. Today the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation officially launched its new website http://www.buildthememorial.org/. Regardless of how each of us experience and reflect on natural and manmade disasters, building the World Trade Center Memorial – directly on top of the bedrock footprints of those two towers – seems so right and important. It will be a beautiful place to remember, learn and resolve so much pain and loss – present and past. I am proud that EchoDitto helped empower this new internet destination where people will gather to share their 9/11 stories, see what the Memorial will look like, and together again – build it.
You are invited to tell your 9/11 story at http://www.buildthememorial.org/ (look for the "Build it" button near the top of the homepage).

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Courtesy : echoditto