Last week I had the honor of visiting the 9/11 memorial site.  I know we all have our own stories of where we were and how we remember that day, I was getting ready for school my sophomore year of high school in California when I turned on the news and saw the second plane hit.  While I may have been far removed from the immediacy of the devastation, the magnitude of the event has always stuck with me, now more than ever as New York is my current home.  This month in particular the 10 year anniversary memorials, commemorative TV specials and magazine articles brought the memories of that fateful day to the forefront of my mind. 

After ten long years, the families touched by the devastation have a place to go and remember their loved ones.  And the destruction that took so long to clean up is finally being replaced by new growth and development on the site, as shown by the floor by floor climb of the new One World Trade Center building.  I was thoroughly impressed with the way the memorial turned out.  It was breathtakingly beautiful.  We went at sunset, which I think was the perfect time to see it, as the city was starting to twinkle in the blue-black sky.  I can’t wait to go back when the museum opens to the public in 2012.

One World Trade Center

These two tridents were part of the original structure of the World Trade towers-and are the only fragments that were still standing after the towers fell

The tridents are located in the building that will serve as the memorial museum, set to open in 2012

The footprints of the two towers are commemorated by beautiful fountains that are surrounded by the names of everyone who died inscribed into bronze panels.

If you live in NY or plan on visiting soon, I highly suggest a visit to the memorial.  Tickets are free but are booking about a month in advance so plan ahead.  You can make reservations here.