I visited New York City two years after September 11th, in October of 2003. This was a big step for me. I had been driving back home to Manhattan and was at an RV park in the middle of Nebraska on September 11th, 2001.
At first, I headed to a friend's mother's house in Kansas instead of continuing to the East Coast. A few days later, I headed to Richmond, VA to stay with my sister for a month. When I did go back to the Upper West Side to pick up a few personal items from my apartment on 72nd Street in October 2001, it was on the day that they discovered anthrax at the NBC building.
I was struck by how normal everything seemed on my block, other than the black jets screaming overhead.
Photos from New York City, a month after September 11, 2001
72nd Street, business as usual...
Fairways, business as usual...
I couldn't bring myself to traveling downtown to see the aftermath. I just couldn't do it.
Photos from New York City, a year after September 11, 2001
One year later, I had the opportunity to attend the Internet World conference in New York City and after much debate with myself, I decided I needed to go to see the hole at Ground Zero. Here are a few photographs from that day.
Memorial fence.
Blank space where Towers stood.
Before and after.
In Memorium.
Through bars.
I thought I would be more emotional when I was at Ground Zero. I remember being so quiet inside, staring into the space, thinking that my friend who was with me had never seen the Towers before, never been inside of them, so he had no idea how much emptiness there was before us. How the open space was so unnatural...
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