Ground Zero

I am preparing to return from my first trip to New York City. I have had a wonderful time here, this city is so full of life and not nearly as intimidating as it appears in movies and on TV with the exception of the transit system. They always make that look easy but it is really as confusing as hell.
I have been to all the tourist sites. Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Times Square, Central Park, the Empire State Building, the Broadway Theatre District and the list could go on and on....
The one that will really stick with me though is Ground Zero. In a city of Millions of people and tons of noise one spot seems to stand in quiet reverence to those who fell there.
We walked from Battery Park to the site and the closer you got to it the quieter it was. The traffic seemed to even become silent as if the cars were also in mourning for the scar the attacks left on our land.
There isn't much to see there right now. Cranes, barricades and covered fences replace the rubble. But the blue sky where the towers once stood says it all. They don't let you see the work being done, I am sure it is mostly for safety reasons. But on one corner is a memorial to the fire fighters who fell that day.
"For those who fell and those who carry on. May we never forget." The names of each and every firefighter who lost their life is on that wall. As we walked along the wall and saw the few personal memorials from the corner I heard the light melody of Amazing Grace. A homeless man playing a flute... that was all I needed to push me over the edge and just break down from the sheer reality of it all. So many lives lost... The city seems to stand still around it. There really are no words....
As we were leaving we walked down the street and as I looked around flashes of videos went through my head. Every video I ever saw on the news of people running away from the towers followed by torrents of dirt and debris. I could almost hear their screams coming from the pavement below my feet. A haunting vision that I will not soon forget.