- It's a piece of history that happened in your lifetime
Being a New Yorker, I feel this is particularly significant. Although I was only in 1st grade, I remember the principal announcing it on the loud speaker and my mom coming early to pick me up. She kept saying she couldn't believe this was happening and although I was too young to understand the very significance this had for the entire country at the time, I'll never forget watching the news with my mom and seeing the towers burn. Being able to remember exactly where I was when walking through the memorial made me feel particularly close to what had happened.
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2. You WILL get goosebumps
Throughout the museum, there are quotes decorating the walls of things victims, family members, first responders, and bystanders said in their moments either during or immediately after the terrorist attack. On display, there are articles of clothing that victims wore to work that day such as shoes. It really makes you wonder how you would feel had you been in that building on that fatal day. Even the quotes from the bystanders watching people jump out the windows of the collapsing building will give you shivers. You realize, that these human beings had no choice, no way to escape the inevitable. This was the most immense attack on American soil we had faced up until that point in our history and forever something that will shape our future as a nation.
3. You'll regain your nationalism
Adorned on the walls throughout, there are quick little stories about the amazing men and women that wanted to save other people trapped in the buildings. You get to admire and pay tribute to their heroism and truly realize how selfless these Americans were to risk their lives for others. 9/11 was a time when we all came together as a country and mourned the loss of so many loved ones and one of our nation's great monuments. You feel reconnected and united with the people surrounding you, as you know they have the same feelings as you.
4. The artifacts and photography will give you an array of emotions
The time lapse videos of the planes hitting the towers, to them collapsing is sobering, but so very real. You watch it over and over, unsure as to how something like this could happen in our great nation. Seeing pictures of the rubble makes you aggravated that someone could destroy something so beautiful, but also proud because of the sheer number of workers that worked to find artifacts and clean up this mess that should have never been made. Seeing artifacts, such as a passenger window of the plane that actually crashed into the tower allows you to step into the shoes of the person sitting in that seat on that day. They had to watch their inevitable fate through this tiny little window, nervous, scared, and upset. You get to relive their feelings by putting it into perspective.
9/11 without a doubt was the most sorrowful time in history that I have personally lived through. Going to the memorial and through the museum made me proud to be an American and a regained belief that we have the ability to be the best country in the world. I felt more united with the people around me than I have in a very long time. We are Americans; united we stand, divided we fall.
