MY VISIT TO THE 9/11 MEMORIAL MUSEUM

In May of 2014 I was blessed with  the opportunity to visit the 9/11 memorial and museum and I had an amazing time at that sacred place. I found it easy to reflect. It is a somber feeling. The water that falls from the memorial pools where the North and South towers once stood make the site very peaceful. They did a great job with the design and construction of the entire area. You would not be able to tell the devastation that happened there almost 13 years ago. It is a crazy thought to realize that both towers were in those exact spots. The museum is a totally different feel from the memorial. The museum is much more sad and graphic. There are many artifacts and it will take you hours to see all of them. I probably spent 5 hours in there and feel like I could use another 8 hours to see it all. The museum is huge. It will be a place that many visitors who go there won't be able to handle certain parts of the site.  There are many recordings/ phone calls they play while you are walking through that can make you become emotional. Some of the artifacts are very hard to look at as well.  There is a "Jumpers" section where there are quotes posted from eyewitnesses to the events unfolding that morning. They also have pictures of jumpers. That's tough to see; I didn't stay there long.

The museum is such a special sacred place to be, knowing what happened there and how many people died- knowing you are standing in places where people jumped to their final breath, knowing hundreds died in the collapse of the towers right there is powerful. Its sad, but its an honor to be there, I was so proud to be there paying respects to the heroes and victims and also saluting the survivors of that day.  I had waited so long to be there, it was like a dream. 

Meeting  Mr. Joe Daniels and Lee Lelpi was amazing. I cannot put into words how awesome that was. I have so much respect and admiration for Lee. It was incredible to meet him, shake hands with him and hug him and be able to tell him how strong of a person he is. It was an honor to be there with him. He is so loving of life and such a strong respectable man. You can feel it when you meet him. I also had the pleasure of meeting the 9/11 Memorial President,  Mr. Joe Daniels, after the ceremony that day he came up to me and actually recognized me and thanked me for coming. That was absolutely nuts! Totally surprised me, but felt amazing. Its still hard to believe I met both of these men and went to the memorial, toured the museum . After so many years of wanting to visit New York, and watching countless hours of 9/11 coverage, reading book after book about it to actually be there in person was a powerful, powerful feeling.