Friday, January 11, 2008

Restoration

This is a spin-off from my previous post.... let me set the scene for you by going back to the scene on the PATH train from Journal Square to World Trade Center, and we'll continue from there....

"On the PATH train from Journal Square, I decide to get off at the re-opened World Trade Center station to get into Manhattan.... I hadn't visited Ground Zero since 2002 despite visiting NYC several times since then.... I was traumatized by that first visit.... decided to pay a well overdue courtesy call.... as the train pulled into the station, passengers get up to look out the windows at the gaping hole and construction site that is Ground Zero.... a reverent hush falls on the subway car.... despite the screeching of the train, the pounding of construction, and the scattered piles of twisted metal, this is a sacred place.... thousands of innocent souls sleep here.... Tu Anh Pham, The Falling Man, Father Mychal Judge, countless firefighters and police officers etc..... we all understood this.... the hush was maintained as we disembarked the subway car and was only broken as we rode the escalators to the surface where the rest of the tourists were climbing the fence and snapping pictures of Ground Zero...."

My arms were long enough for me to get a picture of what everyone was clambering to see, without having to scale the fence haha...

The plan to restore the World Trade Center will see the construction of the Freedom Tower and four smaller towers...

The PATH terminal..... will be transformed into this....Where the Twin Towers stood will be the memorials....I stopped to remember Tu Anh Pham, and found her name on the list of the deceased....Across the street is St. Paul's Chapel, built in 1766, it was undamaged during 9-11 thanks to a sycamore tree that shielded it from the debris from Ground Zero. It became the rest and refreshment center....for both body and spirit.... for the rescue workers. I remember that it used to be plastered with memorials, tributes, and signs of family members searching for their missing loved ones, from the gate outside to the church walls, pillars and pews. They've left up a few of those memorials inside the church...I also remember the area surrounded by vendors all over the place selling pictures and other memorabilia of 9-11. Those are all gone now, in fact I think I saw a sign prohibiting those kinds of vendors. Despite the appearances of normalcy outside and the passage of six years, inside the chapel still invoked those same old feelings of deep sadness. I stopped for a moment of reflection and a quick prayer, but decided to leave when a group of little girls stood at the sanctuary and started singing "The Star Spangled Banner", if they started to sing God Bless America, it would have been too intense in there..... Luckily I got a cell phone call from my friend to tell me the meeting time and place for our reunion with the rest of the classmates, so I headed out to find the nearest subway. Not knowing exactly where I was going, I just decided to walk. On my way, I bumped into this....It was the "cross" that was found in the ruble of 9-11...I remember buying a picture of this being blessed by a Franciscan, from one of those vendors back in 2002.... I thought of another famous picture, with another Franciscan... Father Mychal Judge being carried out of the rubble by firefighters....He was a chaplain in the FDNY, and the first recorded fatality from Ground Zero.... He died after he rushed into the burning WTC to administer the last rites to a fallen firefighter, and was himself struck by falling debris.... I read again his eulogy, and it helped to lead me back to the restoration of my dangerously waning faith that a loving, all-knowing hand still guides and carries us through the chaos of this world and this life....

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4 comments:

ghee said...

Angelo,we have a great reporter in you :)

Really thank you for updating us.I`ve never seen the place again,esp the ground zero.Lucky you,you are so tall that you didnt have to climb up on the fence to get pictures,hehe.

And yes,I still remember that post of yours about Tu Anh,I think i was a lil lost at first,then you explained me furtherly :)

It`s always nice to read your posts,Angelo.Always moving,sometimes entertaining,with your good photos.

Have a good and relaxing weekend,Angelo,dear!

hugs to Nermal!!

ghee said...

BTW,i have a longish post for pro-bloggers that you can find HERE!

Ingat lagi :)

haze said...

It's true that after this incident I don't have an idea on how they will reconstruct the 911. Thanks for sharing these stories and photos Angelo, this is memorable because before it happened I was preparing our wedding. It saddened me somehow.

Jan Parrish said...

Thank you for such an informative and beautiful tribute. I loved seeing the cross. We will never forget the tragedy and the lives that were lost on 9-11. I love seeing the restoration that is taking place.