Angelina- 9/11 Memorial

9/11 is often an event people don’t understand, nor should they be expected too. Before visiting the memorial and the museum I had never wrapped my head around the whole event and how much was really lost on that day. August 24th of this year my family and I took a trip to New York. When the trip was over my dad decided to surprise us with a trip to the Freedom Tower and museum.  A quote that has stuck out to me from the book The Fault in our Stars and an Imperial Infliction as Hazel says, is “pain demands to be felt.” This is a quote that could be used to represent my trip and experience. Hundreds of people were both at the Freedom Tower and museum, while looking at all these people there was one thing I couldn’t quite figure out. That was, why are they here and what are their stories? You didn’t know if they lost a loved one, paying there respects or even a survivor. All the pain and heart beak they were all feeling I never would have known who was feeling what due to all the brave faces. However something that has stayed with me from that trip is one person in particular. As my family and I were walking by the place where one tower used to stand where all the names are engraved and the waterfall is we saw a man bowing his head with his shoulders going up and down. What I thought to be a man paying his respects was a far cry from what the case really was. As we made are way walking along and I got a closer look, I saw a man in an older police man uniform crying his eyes out hovering over one of the names.  Many people that walked by him just stopped in their tracks unsure of what to do next. As we made our way by him my dad just patted him on the back, so he knew he’s not alone. Of course my father never lost somebody in this tragic event but he could still lend a hand and give a prayer for this man still in grief after many years. As we made our way into the museum we immediately became captivated by everything it had to offer. I don’t think I really understood much until I saw that there was NOTHING left of these people but their glasses or their shoes. All that loved ones had to remember them was a shoe that was now being framed for all of us. Once I had finished looking through the whole place I had to wrap my head around the fact that this was real and happened I was only about 6 months old, I “experienced” this huge tragedy. The message of the day was not to learn more 9/11 facts but the idea that I walked out of those museum doors with a whole new understanding of what the world went through on September 11, 2001. Another lesson this day brought was not to take a day for granted because in this case you never really know what’s going to happen. As well, I realized how good many of us have it. If you have not yet been to see this amazing attraction and piece of American history, my advice would be to go as quickly as possible because not only does it bring more facts about this horrible day,  but opens your eyes up to a much bigger picture.