A month has passed, 30 days of sorrow. Washed by the rain, washed by our tears, the ruins still smolder. Mayor Guiliani
said, in today's month memorial service down at The Pile, that sometimes it felt like only a day had passed, sometime it felt
like a year. 4800 souls are still missing. Tons of rubble still remain.
The part of NYC that housed the Twin Towers, became on Sept 11, a section separated from the city
as a whole. It became a world onto itself, a 'City of Sorrows'. We walked through these past days, our hearts hurting, our
minds closed with grief and disbelief. We watched and waited each day to see if one more person, or one more body would be
taken from the ash. Now the rescue mode has turned to cleanup. There are fewer images of Ground Zero played on TV. We try
to return to normal lacy.
But is a month enough? We are a country of 'instant' results: instant news, instant resolutions to problems.
Our President has warned us that this war against terrorism will take patience. Do we have it? Do we also have the patience
to move through our grief, slowly and determinately, in order to heal? Or are we looking, once again for a quick fix? The
bombs over Afghanistan will not give us that!
We seek out counselors to give us answers. With words in 5 minutes to sooth our soul. We listen to talk
shows and read tabloids or buy pop psychology books in hopes of finding the 'miracle' cure to our grief. Less than 2 weeks
after the tragedy, the city of NY rushed in to allow death certificates to be produced for the missing. Another hope to help
cure the grieving souls; to provide 'closure'.
But closure and healing takes time. Counseling and talking and crying help. Prayer services and memorials
help. Yet tomorrow will never be the same. You, me, NYC, the US lost something that dreadful day in Sept. We lost our innocence,
our faith that tomorrow will be like the ones that came before. What we need to find, amidst the rubble of our disturbed lives,
is the spark of hope. Hope that we can continue to care about one another. Hope that this nation will not destroy itself through
pride and arrogance. Hope that our phrase "in God we trust" will indeed bring the grace of the Lord (however we see him/her)
down upon us. For only then can we move forward beyond grief and tears, beyond the self absorption of endless memories of
the past's horrors. Only then can we rebuild....replace the City of Sorrows with the City of Hope.
c 2001 Leona Seufert
