The minutes and the hours tick us away from the year from Hell. With each day we now travel farther away from the pain and sorrow. Never to be forgotten, but less dwelled upon, this year will move us out of the terror and loss and into something new. What will it bring? No one can tell. However, signs that a new form of things is taking shape are appearing. Like the first budding of the crocuses in Springtime, these small changes are positive blooms upon the bare earth. The 1/9 train is once again running through to the tip of Manhattan, the Cortland St station of the N line has reopened, the Winter Garden has been repaired and looks as good as it did prior to 9/11, the World Financial Center is open for business with its floors of offices and multitude of shops (albeit fewer in number), the South Bridge is reconstructed, Ground Zero has a new fence with numerous plaques telling the history of the WTC along with the listing of those who perished, and St.Paul’s has reopened to the public no longer being needed as a haven for rescue and recovery workers. Lastly, construction has started on the new Path train station.

The media has ended its barrage of collapsing tower images. Mostly these days we hear about what is being planned for the reconstruction of the site. There is still controversy, there are still investigations into why the Towers fell, and people from all over still come to see the place where history was made over a year ago. A few people still cry. Those whose loved ones are still missing, still feel pain in their hearts. All these things will combine to create a new world, a new place where once the WTC stood.

Instead of ending my WTC Journal, I have decided to continue to write about what is happening in this second year. To report on the small notes of joy that have arisen out of the cries of anguish. This chapter will now be titled “Rebirth and Resurrection”. And so we move on.