9/11 Memorial

A couple months ago I was sitting in the Harold B. Lee library going insane from too much studying and Wes gmail chatted me to tell me he had got me a surprise. What was it? Tickets to the 9/11 memorial.

This last sunday was our official day to go (it is free to go in, but you have to have tickets right now). For only having the fountains and part of the grounds open it was truly amazing. When you get onto the grounds you can't hear any noise from the city. The water from the fountains drown out all the other noise. It allows for a peaceful silence (with the noise of the water of course) in the middle of a busy loud city. It allows for you to truly take in the immense size of the fountains and to truly remember. There is no way you can't remember while on the grounds. I've been to the war memorials in DC and they are truly touching, but the 9/11 memorial is one of a kind. Here are some photos. 

These fountains mark the base of the towers. They are lined with all the names of those who died. The names are organized by where they died. There is a system where you can search for a name and it will tell you where the name is. They are truly beautiful. You can't see the bottom of the second square. That might've been Wes' favorite part. 

The building in the back will be the official museum. It isn't finished yet. 

I loved how there were flags on almost every piece of construction surrounding the grounds. 

It was touching to see the flowers left. It is obviously a common thing to leave flowers at a memorial but it touched me in a different way. A lot of the people died right where there names are engraved. The people leaving flowers lived through the horror. It is like the Pearl Harbor memorial when you can look down into the water and see the sunken ship. These fountains aren't just beautiful, but they mark where the towers should be standing. 

Underneath the names you can reach down and touch the water. The fountains are supposed to be interactive and it really does its purpose. You can feel the names and you can touch the water. Like I've said, it is a truly beautiful memorial. 

I feel like I've kind of rambled, but it is hard for me to explain what it felt like to be at the memorial. I was young when 9/11 happened and didn't fully understand what happened, but living in New York for just a month has changed that. I was interviewing at a high school just a couple days before the 10th anniversary and I overheard the students talking about 9/11. They would've been so young when it happened but they remembered it all. They were younger than me but because they lived here there was no way they couldn't understand. I hope you can understand a little about how the memorial made us feel despite my poor writing. 

Make it a goal to visit this memorial at some point in your life. Once the tower and the museum are finished it will be truly, truly amazing. I am proud to be an American every day of my life.