On my last visit to New York City in May, I went to see the World Trade Center for the first time since before the Twin Towers fell on 9/11.
I spent my childhood in the burbs of Long Island and visit the city almost every year and make it a point to thank, hug and laugh with every firefighter and cop I see, just couldn't bear to go there, til now.
So I finally sucked it up buttercup! And visited like a tourist - taking a walking tour of the area, led by a local who remembers firsthand, the horrors of that day.
I touched the name of my cousin, Glen, on the stone around the reflecting pool. I only met him a couple of times when I was a kid. He was so nice. Took me on a motorcycle ride. I knew his sweet, hilarious parents well from family gatherings.
Glen was an attorney at Holland & Knight next door to the towers. He was also a volunteer firefighter, who grabbed gear off a fire truck and ran up the south tower steps to help that day and didn’t make it out.
The 9/11 museum was obviously heartbreaking, emotionally draining and also, fills you with American pride. The bravery and devotion of our first responders is just...awe-inspiring. How lucky we are to live here.
After that long, heavy day, I stopped into an Irish bar called O’Hara’s, right there at the footsteps of the WTC. I knew the proprietors had to have massive PTSD that will never go away. I knew it was probable that so many of the police, firefighters, and business people who worked in the towers had to have been regulars there. And the staff at O’Hara’s went from pouring their favorite drinks to never seeing them again.
There were patches all over every inch of every wall. They were from police and fire departments all over the world.
I asked the bartender, who was one of the owners, if those patches were brought in by first responders after the attacks.
He said they were and they ARE. “They just keep coming, every single day,” he said.
No doubt O’Hara’s is right now filled with police officers and firefighters - as it is every year on this day.
Check out O'Hara's on your next visit for a true slice of New York. Remember to ask for "The Book", explained in this piece from The New York Times.
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