On September 20, 2015 I paid my respects at 9/11 ground zero for the second time. The first time was in November of 2001. So much had changed. Instead of rubble surrounded by fencing and personal memorials, there was a museum and waterfalls into pools on the footprint of the twin towers with names inscribed of those who died in the buildings and the first responders. There was a sculpture that looked like bird wings and a new tower. Many visitors quietly walked the site, paying respects, grieving.
I created these montages as my memorial. Can you see the ghosts? I call it Freedom Rising. Many years earlier I worked for American Express and went through or by the World Trade Towers on my way to work at the Financial Center. During the first underground attack of the World Trade Center I was working for Genlyte in Secaucus, New Jersey and could see the plumes of smoke from my office window.
I have great difficulty in understanding the hatred that motivates humans to hurt and kill one another, again and again and again. But I know that we must not be defeated by hatred. This is why I call my memorial Freedom Rising. We do not forget, but we use it as a way to contrast our love, optimism, and courage to build again, to soar like the phoenix from the ashes, and thank those who give of themselves to protect our freedom.
Freedom Rising
the waterfall and pool
The new tower cast in blue
The new sculpture
The museum, waterfall and pool, and visitors paying their respects