What Happens to the Heartbreaking Tributes Left at the 9/11 Memorial

My memories of that awful day: The breaking news on the radio at work; we turned on the TV to see what was happening. The second plane and the nauseating realization that this was not an accident, it was a terrorist attack. The plane crashing near Shanksville and my coworker, who had family in the area turning ashen and grabbing the phone to call them. My older son calling me at work to implore me to come home because Three Mile Island could be a target and me quietly reminding him that he was much closer to TMI than I was. The plane crash at the Pentagon. My coworker's obvious relief when his sister-in-law answered the phone. The bodies falling from the windows. The endless replays of the videos showing the horrifying moments as the planes went into and through the towers. The collapse of the towers. The papers falling like light rain, thousands of leaves fluttering down from the sky. Being unable to do any kind of work through the tears and the endless coverage on the TV. Driving home past Three Mile Island and feeling almost guilty that we had been spared from the horror. My mother on the phone. She, a retired RN, crying for all the first responders who lost their lives. She kept repeating, "They were just doing their jobs. They were so brave. They went into those buildings." The American flags everywhere. The unity. The firefighters at stoplights collecting donations in their boots. The patriotism and pride. We will never forget.

And what happens to all those people that the US has murdered in unjust wars, and from bombs on high? Those countless “others” were beloved and special exactly as the Americans. All this stuff, I hope would affect how we think about war and the terror the US has inflicted thousands of miles from its shores on innocent civilians.

Never visited the towers when they were up and won’t visit the area now that they are down

“It humanizes her to have people understand the weight of the beauty that was lost that day.” The weight of the beauty that was lost that day. That says everything. Thank you, Ms. Rattigan and Ms. Farrell for so eloquently expressing what the loss of your beautiful sister, Maile Rachel Hale means -- to you, and to us all. My sincere and emphatic sympathies to you on this grievous family loss. Our Andrea was also in the Trade Center's North Tower that day, on the 92nd Flr. and at age 25, she too was among those perished there that day. And Ms. Knoll, thank you also for compiling and writing this extremely accurate and evocative article. Having been to the Memorial and Museum many times, knowing the staff, having some of Andrea's personal and recovered items archived and displayed there, this is all very familiar territory and you have captured its essence so correctly. I so wish to be in NY this week ... but cannot. Thus, articles like this are very appreciated and they help ease the way a bit during this challenging week. ~ 9/11 family member (extended) aunt of Andrea Lyn Haberman, 25, WTC 1/North Tower, 92nd Flr., Carr Futures

That they put this effort into preserving these tiny, intimate attempts at making meaning and creating an emotional space to honor and reflect speaks well of the Museum's work.

Thank you for the beautiful article! I just participated in the really cool fundraiser for the 9/11 First Responders that puts your image up on Times Square billboard for a donation. It is a pretty cool idea. Maybe you can help spread the word? CharityShareTimesSquare.org/sep11

In August 2001, my dad and I visited Ellis Island. On the ferry back, we had a wonderful view of Lower Manhattan and the World Trade Center. My father had worked there in the 70s and had very fond memories of it, including those fast express elevators that always startled first-time visitors to the Trade Center, and of dining at Windows on the World. He remarked that we should visit the towers and the restaurant so that I could see them. I remember looking up at the towers as the ferry meandered by and getting dizzy because they were so very high. I also remember having a sense of foreboding as I looked at them, but at the time I didn’t focus much on it. I figured my family and I could always make a visit later. It was August and I was going back to college, so there was no time. How I wish we had somehow found the time. A month after I gazed up at them from that ferry, the World Trade Center towers were gone, along with everybody in them. My dad still talks of his time at the World Trade Center. A photograph that he took from inside the Trade Center hangs in my parents’ home. It shows, through those iconic office windows, a view of the city below as it looked 25 years before the tragedy. After the towers were destroyed on Sept. 11, he refused to visit the site. Now my parents and I are talking about going to the Memorial to visit. We all have an interest in seeing it and paying our respects to the people, the past, and the future we collectively lost 18 years ago.

Thank you for such a gorgeous story about the power of remembering, loving and never forgetting. Indeed, we will never forget.

Yet we had a president that was friends with the family that created and supported the master mind of this terrorist attack and attacked the wrong country, Saudi Arabia Gould have been invaded. The current president continues to be chummy with these same terrorist enablers. Sickening. Remember that the only private aircraft allowed into the sky after 911 carried members of the Bin Lauden family.

Anyone who lives long enough experiences life-altering events. In the USA (for my parents), it was Pearl Harbor on December 7th;. For me (born in the 50's), it was JFK, on November 22nd, and 9/11; plus all the other "where were you when" tragedys which occurred; especially in the 1960's like (beside JFK) it was James Earl Ray when he killed MLK, and Sirhan Sirhan when he killed RFK. For me without a doubt the most life altering event I have expoerienced first hand is 9/11. I used to work in the WTC, and went there countless times, always marveling. I used to stand at the base of the North Tower; right next to the edge and look straight up. I lost a dear friend I had known over a decade. He was a FDNY Captain, and 1 of the most highly decorated members. I hear people sometimes say "Things seem more real when I see them on television." In this case this is not true; by a long shot. I had lived and had an office in lower Manhattan for 14 years when 9/11 occurred. I will remember every single detail of that day, as I watched everything from the top of the building where my office was (very close). Close friends and family were being searched for and (fortunately) were found, and were ok. I had several friends who worked in the building, including 1 of my closest friends. He worked 6 years for Cantor Fitzgerald. His office was on the 101st floor (I think). He was laid off 4 months before. 1 of my strongest memories is the smell of burt plastic. It permeated the air for 3 weeks.

I went to the memorial last weekend. I go at least once a year. As a New Yorker, I see it almost as a duty. What strikes me every time is the tourists taking smiley selfies right there, in front of the fountains, by the names of the victims. I just can't comprehend.

My father, a retired NYC detective, died suddenly on October 1, 2001 at 91 years of age in NYC. We were all still processing the surreal event of tragic loss, as yet still not even named 9/11 or the site as ground 0. The toxic smoke was still, 3 weeks later, emanating from the rubble as my dad lied in state. A fireman, killed that day in the towers, was being mourned in the next funeral home parlor room- with just scant remains that could be found I was told by the funeral director. They were both buried on the same day, with a fireman contingent playing bagpipes at the doors, whose memory still gets me to tears, even as I write this. But it was in my last phone conversation with my dad, in those first days that still rings true, and that is my take away each year of remembrance and respect for the dead. Buddy, he said; in perhaps our last conversation, “I think that this is your generations Pearl Harbor.” And so it is. My dad got it right. We all remember where we were and how we first grappled with the unimaginable. Beautiful article. I hope the families continue to take comfort in their own special ways. I eventually learned that I lost two high school classmates - class of 1973 at St Peters on SI, Michael Fiore and John Fischer. And then also a neighborhood friend from Grant City on Staten Island, that was a co-worker in an A&P during our innocent high school and college days, John Giordano. God rest their souls. Never forgotten.

Thank you for such a beautiful, tender story. LOVE is so very powerful and cannot be destroyed. This is a story about love.

I was in my NYC office on 9/11, around the corner from Engine 1/Ladder 24. This article reminded me of the months after that day when the NYT printed pictures and biographies of so many of those who died. I felt compelled to read each and every one of them and they always left me with mixed emotions - sad that they were gone but happy to have known a little bit about them. Our local firehouse applied for and received a piece of the Trade Center steel, it is encased in a small memorial next to the sidewalk. This Wednesday I'll stop by and remember.

All the loss and continued grief. A day of solemn reflection and prayer. Trump even taints this hallowed day by once again making it about HIM! God Help Us........

"But even the tiniest of tributes can express so much — so these items, along with thousands of others left behind, made their way into the museum’s vast storage facilities. There, artifacts of unremarkable appearance — a tiny teddy bear, a seashell, a ribbon for a No. 1 dad — are considered valuable expressions of mourning that continue the narrative of Sept. 11." These personal tributes from loved ones are so necessary for many reasons. At first, they are expressions of hope and then deep grief when it becomes extremely apparent that a loved one will never be returning home. Also, the safe keeping of these items in the "museum’s vast storage facilities" will prove to be tangible evidence and reminders for generations to come of the love, tenderness, importance and meaning these 2753 lives that were taken on 9/11 from the World Trade Center site had on so many loved ones, friends and co-workers. When I read Erik Larson's book, "Isaac's Storm" which detailed in great richness the painful and heartbreaking events immediately preceding, during, and after the 1900 Galveston hurricane, I was stunned by the vast amount of information Mr. Larson had uncovered from such a tragic event 100 years ago. He stated that the Galveston library had kept detailed records, personal notes, letters, & other documentation from survivors of that storm, describing their struggles, losses, & grief. May not one victim of 9/11 EVER be forgotten. Thank you for storing these beloved items.

Thoughtful and beautiful piece. The 911 memorial plaza is a hauntingly beautiful place to visit. I took my children, then older teens, to the museum a few years ago. They still talk today about how taking the long escalator down to the museum was overwhelmingly emotional along with viewing the artifacts and tributes. Thank you to everyone who works in the musuem and takes such care to honor those who lost their lives on that terrible day.

“An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.” These beautiful tributes give me a glimmer of hope that love may prevail, somehow.

This was a great read, really touching and well written. I wish nothing but peace to everyone involved in any capacity on that day. We will never forget.