A memorial for a memorial.
This wall was once covered with 9/11 Missing posters. "The Wall of Remembrance" was preserved here for years, secured under plexiglass, and eventually taken down. A permanent memorial was planned, but there was not enough money for it.
Wrote Clyde Haberman at the Times:
"The 9/11 fliers are now preserved in plastic and arranged alphabetically, from Terence E. Adderley Jr. to Ken Zelman, in four loose-leaf binders... The binders are in storage, emerging rarely save for one day a year. 'We have a memorial Mass every Sept. 11 in the chapel, and we bring the books there,' Sister Kevin said. 'We let people look through them, and then we take them back' — out of sight but never out of mind."
Of course, St. Vincent's is now a haunted house, Sister Kevin doesn't work there anymore, and who knows where the loose-leaf binders have gone.
This post is heartbreaking in so many ways... it hurts so much to step back and remember that yes, situations so needless and insensitive as this are a part of our reality. The last photo is extremely telling - more so when taken in context with the 9/11 memorials. Thanks for another beautiful post.
ReplyDeleteLiving in the WV. I'd go to St. Vincent's to look at the fliers. I'd think: hope someone saves these fliers. Never: hope someone saves this hospital! Wish those Missing fliers were published in a book. This past Sunday, the newspaper for the town in which I now live published snapshots I took -- one shows people at St. Vincent's, reading the posted fliers.
ReplyDeleteI have posted a video of the wall.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ag6jV-p6k8