Tribute to 9/11 Firefighters by Dulimaman on Flickr
I read a lot of great posts in the past week about 9/11 and specifically, people’s memories of that day.
Re-living the day through video and images was difficult but necessary to really remember the people who were lost and the heroes who came forward at that time.
Many of my friends commented on how everyone came together after 9/11 and how that now seems to be lost. We wonder why there has to be a tragedy to see our common humanity.
About a month and a half after 9/11, my husband and I and some friends visited New York City for a celebratory event. We thought long and hard about going. It didn’t seem right to be celebrating in a place that was still very much in mourning.
We did go and saw a couple of Broadway plays, yet at the same time we experienced firsthand what was happening in the city.
We witnessed a funeral for a firefighter, and the great solidarity and love evident there.
We came as close as we could to the World Trade Center site, to pay our respects and see the messages of support on walls and storefronts.
We saw the Broadway community, grateful for our presence.
Rudy Giuliani himself appeared at our event and thanked us for coming and Daniel Rodriquez, the great tenor and firefighter, sang for us.
I came away from that trip with a better understanding of what the city and its people were going through. Being there helped me walk in their shoes in a sense, and experience deeper empathy.
When we’ve been to a place and we meet the people there, it connects us in a special way. When something tragic happens in that place or to those people, we experience their pain more deeply.
Of course, most of the time, it is not possible to go to a place or be with someone if it is too far away. But, with the Internet and instantaneous video and images, we can learn more of the individual stories, and get to know a people and a place virtually.
Maybe that is the best way to understanding. Through the stories. Keep telling them.