In July of 1977, my family, infrequent (understatement) travelers, took a trip up the eastern seaboard, including historic Philadelphia and then a day trip to New York City.
One of the highlights of that trip was a visit to The World Trade Center. I have few recollections of the visit, except that, to me, the building seemed brand new (not 4 years old, as it was at the time), and, of course, super tall (having just then been surpassed as the tallest building in the world), and that my acrophobic mother would not venture close to the windows of the observation deck on the 107th floor.
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| The cover of the brochure. Inside, the admission price for adults is listed as $1.70, for children 85 cents. |
Today is a sad day in American history. In my 40+ years, there aren't many days that I can experientially recall as collectively sad for our nation. I was just a month old when JFK was assassinated and a child when Martin Luther King was killed and also during Watergate, so those sort of "where were you when?" moments are, thankfully, not a huge part of my own personal history. I do remember vividly the Challenger explosion (I was on my way to a Women in Literature class in college) and I watched the Columbia Shuttle explosion, eight years ago, on a television at the gym - so upset I had to leave.
Ten years ago today, having sent my children off to school and preschool, I was getting ready for a dentist's appointment. My husband called me from his office and told me to turn on the television, and the world was never the same.
“Now, we have inscribed a new memory alongside those others. It’s a memory of tragedy and shock, of loss and mourning. But not only of loss and mourning. It’s also a memory of bravery and self-sacrifice, and the love that lays down its life for a friend–even a friend whose name it never knew. “
- President George W. Bush, December 11, 2001
