The New York Stock Exchange
Since I couldn't get the blog software loaded satisfactorily on my laptop, I couldn't blog from New York. Then I was going to blog day by day a week late beginning Sunday. That didn't work either. Then I was going to blog all of it at one time and discovered that I had far too, too much for just one long post. So here it is, one day at a time out of sync with the days of the week.
Sunday. Arrival day in NY
I had planned to arrive at the hotel at 5:00 p.m. to meet a friend for supper and conversation. I had it figured out pretty close---only 15 minutes late. I had calculated an hour to get my luggage and the shuttle and an hour to get to the hotel. The catch was that I had to wait an extra 30 minutes for the shuttle.
After supper, Lavonne, the SMG coordinator from Boise, Idaho, and I walked down to the NYSE to check where we were to meet the next morning . It was an easy four block walk. We strolled around Trinity Church and came back to the hotel via Church Street. Our hotel, the Millennium Hilton, is directly across the street from Ground Zero. In fact our room overlooked it.
 Ground Zero from our hotel room.
We strolled along the fence and read the information plaques.
 Ground Zero from street level.
It really brought it back to me. I had not been in this area since 9/11. The Prudential broker I used to have worked in the Liberty One building that is across the street near the south end of Ground Zero and the hotel is toward the North end. As we walked along the three blocks looking at the area, it seemed like such a small area. I had been here three or four times and it seemed so far from the south edge to the north edge---at least six or seven blocks----it seemed huge and now it is such a small area. What a difference the tall buildings make in the perception of the size of the area.
The importance of the event came flooding back. It was not just a one-time mishap. All the innocent people who were killed. I set aside a moment of silence in recognition for the staff of the Windows on the World staff. Daughter and I had such a special evening there in 1998---great food and marvelous wait staff. Those people are gone---lost their lives through no act of their own.
It is clear to me that there should be a substantial memorial and the buildings should be rebuilt.
11:02:15 PM 
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