December, 1997
A couple weeks before Christmas
we took our boys to New York City for the first time
Eric was 10 years old, Andrew, 6
we did all the touristy things
Central Park, Rockefeller Center,
Times Square, Ellis Island
The Carnegie Deli for lunch
Little Italy for dinner
we stayed at the Marriott World Trade
right next to the Towers
the highlight of the weekend was
going to the top of the North Tower
the boys talked about it for years after
and still have vivid memories today

We have since been to NYC many times
but yesterday all I could think of was that particular time
seeing the city through the eyes my young children
I suddenly remembered that there were some photos…somewhere..
so after searching through a few boxes, I came across several
I really like this one, although certainly not a great photo,it was all of us
and both Towers were in the background

so I decided to put it on my Flickr page
where I put most of my images..the good, the bad and the ugly
this time I disabled the comments

but then a rather remarkable thing happened…

I started receiving flickr emails
some from contacts and some from complete strangers
stories….memories..of the WTC

from a woman who wrote “My husband and I were both Delta Airlines crew members and in 1984, while on a layover, he asked me to marry him at Windows On The World on the top floor.”

One man wrote, “I attended high school up the river in Orange Co. We all watched those towers being built, rising floor by floor over the years until the year my class graduated, 1973. Each of us always felt they were in some way “ours.” I still cannot believe they are gone.”

Another wrote how he once had a terrific job offer that he had to turn down because it meant his office would be in one of the Towers and he was afraid of heights. Though he was always in awe of the Towers and wished that he could experience the view, he could never summon the courage to do it.

And these are just a few of the stories

Bittersweet, all.

As I was reading last night, I thought about the connections we all had with the WTC. I was able to think a bit beyond the horror of 9-11. Although I will never forget, maybe it’s all part of a healing process, I don’t know. But no matter what relationship you had with the Towers…they were once truly the windows on the world.

My sons now have a story to tell…