COLLEGE STATION Today, out of respect for the first anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, no news will be sent via AGNMORE, the electronic news service of the Texas A&M University System’s Agriculture Program. The news team instead sponsored a bake sale on the first day of fall classes, and the money is being given to a local volunteer fire department. It was our small way of trying to bring goodness to a day that will be forever remembered for the horrible attacks on America.
But we offer one more thing. Team member Norma Moreno, formerly a reporter for Univision, writes about how her life-long dream of visiting New York City became even more representative of the spirit of America upon her arrival at Ground Zero.
By Norma Moreno
For years I had been planning to visit New York City, but I never expected it to be so powerful. Finally, in June 2002, I was able to take my dream vacation.
My itinerary was done months before my departure. It included mostly touristy attractions. As I arrived at the Newark Airport in New Jersey, I couldn’t wait to go and see what New York City was all about.
On the third day of my vacation, I got on the subway to the financial district in Manhattan. Shortly, I was at the Ground Zero site. I could see dozens of people forming lines at the fenced sidewalk waiting for their turn to see the place where the Twin Towers once stood. And as I joined the crowd of spectators, feelings of sadness struck me I was standing at a place where many cried for help and were not heard, where many were lost and never found, where many died not knowing that lives fueled by hatred towards a way of life and beliefs were responsible for their farewell to loved ones.
Across from the vanished Twin Towers site, Saint Paul’s Chapel stands at the corner of Broadway and Fulton streets. All around its iron fence are altar-like displays of photos, letters, teddy bears, flowers, red, white and blue lit candles, and weathered flags from many nations.
I stopped, looked closely at the items on the fence, and realized that the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 were real, not a bad dream or a news story that many journalists, including myself, reported on.
After reading the letters from those people who lost loved ones in the terrorist attacks, I observed that I was not the only one with many prayers on the tip of my tongue and tears in my eyes.
Then feelings of hope and pride filled my heart. I discovered that horrendous actions against us would only make us stronger and prouder to be born, migrated, or refuged in a “land of opportunity and freedom,” proving that our different skin colors, religious beliefs and languages can only unite us. It reinforced the sentiment that “we would not allow anyone, or anything to threaten to destroy our dreams.”
To many of us, the United States of America is a place where dreams can come true, dreams that we are not willing to give up.
In only a few minutes of standing at Ground Zero, I could see and feel what my dream of New York City was all about respect, hope, strength and freedom for all of us.
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