September 11, 2001
Photo taken September, 1988 on top of the Trade Center
I often think of that day on the towers, high above the skies of Manhattan. I had watched these buildings grow from girder to shell to become the glorious twin stars of the Manhattan skyline. In all that time, I had never before gone to the top.
The lines were long, elevators packed with people coming and going, barely a spare seat in the glassed-in observation site below where I stand in this picture. Men, women, children, staring through floor to ceiling panes of glass so thin it seemed surely you would fall through.
On clear days, such as that one, the observation area at the very top of the building was opened to all who dared stand, fettered only by a railing, at the very top of this wondrous city.
I remember wondering what it would feel like to fall from such a high place.
Now others have answered that question for me.
There's one problem. They're no longer here to tell of the horror. Those on the top......jump or be burned alive. I still cannot fathom making such a decision.
I dedicate these few words to the memory of the people who died September 11. Your loss has changed us forever.
10/27/2001
Music: To Go Beyond
