#55. On 9/11, I Choose NOT to Remember
About a month ago, I took the PATH train to Jersey City from the World Trade Center. It was the first time I got to walk through the Oculus hub, which is the new World Trade Center PATH hub.
Once inside, I was struck by its cavernous feel and the extreme WHITENESS of it all. I was taken aback by the marble floors and the ribs, its structural and aesthetic essence. Both brought back memories of the Towers. The marble, of walking through the bowels of the Trade Center past all the retail outlets, and the ribs, well, the ribs reminded me of the last sights I had of the Towers that morning as I smoked my cigarette about a quarter mile away on Pine Street, the exterior facing.
I’m guessing reminiscence is what the designers/architects had in mind for visitors when they drew up their plans for the hub.
I felt extremely uncomfortable. It made me want to leave there as soon as possible. Because it brought me back.
And I choose not to be reminded. I’d rather not remember.
Because every time I’m downtown where the towers once stood, I remember. And every time there’s a sunny, cloudless, beautiful ≈ 70 degree day in Manhattan, I remember. And every time a plane flies overhead in Manhattan, I remember. And every time I see something that looks like smoke billowing up towards the sky in Manhattan, I remember.
My heart goes out to all who lost loved ones that day.
But I choose not to remember 9/11. Because I do every day.
