How Far We've Come

From the morning of Tuesday, September 11th, 2001, when terror came to life on the streets of New York to this pleasant September day only one year later, seems like an eternity.

Yet, at times it seems so close, so real and so painful.

The photos on these pages are a memory book of the past year. The photos from ground zero during the week after the attack were taken by one of the rescue workers, my sister, who was lucky enough to NOT be in the area when the towers came down.

Many of us lost much more than a set of buildings on that day and the healing will take much longer than a year.

Thanks go out to everyone who pulled together to get us through the year. The firefighters, the police officers, the friends and neighbors and all New Yorkers who offered support and consolation when it was needed with grace and without question. The email and personal messages from all over the world made it easier to find sanity in the days and weeks following this tragedy.

The first anniversary of the terrorist attack on civilization, the people of the United States, New York, the World Trade Center, our friends and families is filled with so many conflicting emotions.Pride that we have come together to offer support and help each other and to regain perspective.

Sadness at the terrible cost we paid for some madmen to make a political statement.

Anger at the stupidity and callousness of the attack. What did anyone gain from this death and destruction?

Fear that it could happen again. Fear that our government may have known of the attack and not prevented it.

Fear that life as we knew it has been altered forever.

Joy, yes joy, that we survived the wounds. That we have the ability to complain about the heat and the newest designs for rebuilding what was destroyed. Joy that we have each other and we know that when the going gets tough - there is literally a world of people who will come to stand by our side.

And grief... thousands of families who are missing people. Children who spent the last holiday season without a loving parent. Parents who still wake up hoping to find out that it was all a bad dream. Wives, brothers, sisters, friends who will mark the 11th of September with memorial services of their own. Personal losses that are just beginning to heal after a year of pain.

The city is almost back to normal.

There is still the lingering feeling of togetherness.

There is still the hole that used to be the World Trade Center.

But apartments are being rented around ground zero, business is returning to lower Manhattan. Plans for the new buildings to replace the towers are in the works and life goes on...

 

Ground Zero - Images From The Media Coverage

The First Week In Pictures - Searching For Survivors

Ground Zero - Pictures from The Viewing Area