Although it has been a long time coming, the World Trade Center memorial finally seems to be on the way. For many of us, it has been a really long and painful experience. When the World Trade Center 9 11 disaster first hit, it was a shock to everyone. Many of us did not understand how life would ever be normal again, but somehow the world has a way of continuing on with or without us. Although the original World Trade Center twin towers are gone for good, nonetheless the memory remains in the hearts and minds of all New Yorkers and all Americans. When the World Trade Center memorial is completed and the new WTC is built, we will have a monument that is bigger, more beautiful, and more perfect than anything built in the big apple ever before.
I first went to New York around the first anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attack. Back then, the World Trade Center memorial was only a distant dream. As a matter of fact, workers were still in the initial stages of excavating the site. Any time, day or night, there would be people watching the progress of the work. Although some people were beginning to talk about a competition for World Trade Center memorials, it was only in the initial stages. Everyone was still busy mourning, and the idea of a new World Trade Center seemed strange and alien to everyone.
Nonetheless, things had to go on. I actually watched a lot of the World Trade Center rebuilding via a Webcam that would broadcast the progress at all times. It is amazing how quickly the gigantic disaster was cleaned up. Subways were rerouted, businesses were relocated, and soon everyone was going on almost as if nothing had happened. Yet there was, and still will always be, a huge hole in the New York City skyline. The World Trade Center memorial will remind us of this always. Even though the new World Trade Center will be a big, gorgeous building, it still will not replace the old one in the minds of New Yorkers.
Although the World Trade Center monument cannot possibly completely capture all that was lost, it can serve to evoke it. That is the purpose of the World Trade Center memorial: to make sure that we never forget what happened that day, and the horrible things that have been happening ever since.
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