Docent blog - November 19, 2014 It is often a bit chilly walking across Memorial Plaza but today there was just one word for it...FROZEN! Ok...Im done with the weather...Ill let it go! :) I chose to befriend Marc Murolo today. Marc grew up in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, graduated from Fairfield University and landed a job at Cantor Fitzgerald. He was a 28 year old bond trader, whose office was on the 105th floor of the North Tower. He loved his job, the Mets and the city, especially going to restaurants with his friends. His name can be found on the North Pool parapets at N-53. Another young man with so much potential. Visitors to the museum were more independent and fewer in number today. Still, there were visitors that represented many foreign countries and the United States, as well. There were a couple of bus tours from south Jersey with lots of interested passengers who, in my estimation, did not have nearly enough time to explore the museum! I really wish the people who bring groups would allow an appropriate amount of time in the museum. There was a yeshiva from Brooklyn that came with a large number of students. They ranged in age from @13 - 17 years old. The students I spoke with were fascinated with the artifacts, wanted to know the history and were particularly interested in the personal stories. They spent a considerable amount of time in Memoriam Hall looking for people they were connected to and getting to know some of those they were not familiar with at all. On February 6, 1993, at 12:18 PM, the parking garage of World Trade Center suffered a bombing, killing 6 people and injuring over 1,000. Today I met a woman who was on the 38th floor of the North Tower that day. She shared with me that most of the people in the building had no idea a bomb had gone off in the building. Even though $500 million in damages were sustained, no one told them anything, no one ordered an evacuation, and no one seemed to be taking charge of those left in the building. She told me that once her office decided to evacuate the building, they had to take a circuitous route to even find an available exit. When they finally emerged, police and fire personnel looked stunned and asked them where they were coming from...how did they find that particular door...were there any others left upstairs. Hard to believe...but she was passionate in the telling of her experiences and, as she moved on to talk about the victims of 9/11, her tears could not be stopped. She quietly shook her head and muttered, I just cannot imagine...those poor people.... We had visitors from Toronto, the Netherlands, Glasgow, Italy and Argentina. All of these people were astounded at their reaction to the exhibits in the museum. The size of the steel, the tridents, the slurry wall all put the enormity of the towers in perspective. The damage they saw on the artifacts was a powerful reminder of just how vicious and destructive the attacks were on the buildings and on those who were there. It brought back memories of seeing it on television from so far away and allowed them to relive the event in a way that was impossible before. They were hungry for information and discussion. A group of @10 from Brazil were already filled with tears by the time I met them at the survivor stairs. They spoke little English and I speak no Portuguese but...I, once again, used my Spanish and, along with their limited fluency with English, we managed to have a very animated discussion. They were filled with compassion and grief from what they were seeing and thanked me profusely for giving them the information I was able to provide. There were a large number of visitors from England, as well. One couple was here 2 years ago and visited Ground Zero. They were amazed by the progress and had trouble imagining the transformation from 2002 to the present day. What they were seeing today was something they never expected. They had returned home in 2002 doubtful that this site would ever be restored to normalcy and, yet, here they were. Its just fascinating that this was actually able to be completed...this could never have been done without a sincere commitment and hard-won teamwork between everyone involved. Another couple told of watching their television for days...unable to stop watching and being horrified as more and more details surfaced. It did not even seem real to them, until now. Grandparents from Yorkshire, England talked about their grandchild, a 2 year old, whom they wanted to bring to the museum when he got much older. I shared the titles of several age-appropriate books with them and they hurried off to the Museum Store to purchase them. Then, there was Paul and Louise, another couple from England. They were very friendly and anxious to chat about the artifacts, the events, and the exhibits in the museum. They, too, were impressed with the whole museum project and with the sensitivity with which the artifacts were presented. We had an in-depth discussion of the significance of the blue wall and the repository. They knew that unidentified remains were in the museum and asked what the general, public opinion was of that decision to keep them here. Paul said, If I had lost a loved one, I would want the unidentified remains to be here. I would want them all to be together. It would give me some comfort to know that those lost and unidentified were together. They realized that the entire project was both a museum and a memorial to the victims and believed that the museum administration and all those responsible managed to create a space where the goals of both of those facilities could be met - visitors could learn from the exhibits and were also given the opportunity to grieve, mourn, remember, and honor all those who died. Thank you for talking with us. It is an honor for us to be able to have this experience.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 22:20:27 +0000
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