On Thursday afternoon, the Ground Zero Cross, also known as "The Last Artifact," was officially moved to a new temporary home, at St. Peter's Church, on Church and Barclay Streets, just a few yards north of the World Trade Center site. The Cross was taken down and put in a flatbed truck, and a few hundred people, including myself, marched in a procession behind it, led by Father Brian Jordan, who was instrumental in getting the Cross the new home.
The Cross, an incredible symbol of hope found among the death and destruction at Ground Zero, will be at St. Peter's until it can be moved back to the site, when the memorial is completed, and it will be a major artifact in the museum.
At the close of the ceremony, an ironworker came up to me and asked me about a photo of my friend Joyce that I had with me. I told him about her, and we talked briefly. He concluded by saying, "we did our best down there to find everyone." I thanked him so much for all the hard work the ironworkers did at the World Trade Center. They did some extremely dangerous work in the recovery, and have gone largely unheralded for what they did.
Thank you for all you guys did, from the bottom of our hearts.
After the ceremony concluded, my friend Donna and I went to 7 World Trade Center, the new skyscraper that went up there earlier this year. We went to a special photo exhibit that is on the 45th floor called "9/11 And The American Landscape." It was done by Jonathan Hyman, and it is 63 photos he took from around the USA (mostly in the NY area) that feature the memorials people set up to honor the 9/11 victims. The photos are very moving, and include such things as "graffitti memorials," people who painted their houses red, white and blue, and even "tattoo memorials." Unfortunately, the exhibition concludes this Saturday.
I was also really moved by the panoramic view I got of Lower Manhattan from the 45th floor on all sides of the building, especially looking down on the World Trade Center site. I brought back memories of when I went to the WTC observatory back in the 1980s.
It was extremely moving, and I was glad I was there today.
5 comments:
We're glad you were there too, for without your post, we never would have experienced it through your eyes and words. And for that I (we) thank you.
And on a lighter note, the video clip about Thom's was so great. That is one place I want to visit. I'm in Boston more often than NYC, but if ever.... Hey, were you IN that video?
Peter: thank you for the very kind words about my latest post. I was really proud to be there yesterday.
In the video, I am wearing the Red Sox shirt and wearing the 2004 World Champions hat.
If you ever do come down, Peter, let me know. We can have a beer together...
Or two! Go Tigers. As the Beach Boys said, wouldn't that be nice.
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