Survivor Tree
Michelle and I went on a road trip this summer to see her family spread all over the east side of the US. We also wanted me to see New York since Michelle had been there many times to attend the US Open and loves NY. Although I’m not usually a fan of large crowds (even before they became a covid hazard), I was excited to see some of the popular landmarks…the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, etc. But my main requirement for our NY stay was the 9/11 Memorial, the newest of popular landmarks. I felt we couldn’t go to New York and not pay homage to the single greatest tragedy to happen in America in over a century.
The city was getting back to normal in early June before the delta variant of the corona virus became the dominant strain. It wasn’t nearly as crowded as pre-pandemic, but there were still a lot of people out and about. The weather was warm during the day but still chilly at night with the tunnel-effect wind blowing among the high-rises. The night we arrived we had a reservation for a VIP tour of the Empire State Building. Our guide had been there for over 30 years and was well-versed in the history of the building and the other landmarks of the city. She showed us the displays, took our pictures, and took us to the 110th floor observation deck. There we had a conversation about what it was like to live in New York, and she got a little emotional talking about the pandemic but broke down crying talking about 9/11…particularly about seeing people jump to their deaths from the burning towers. And I remembered seeing it happen on that day twenty years ago. Those people knew they were already dead but had decided to fall to their deaths rather than burn alive. No one should have to make that choice.
Our first morning there, we took a tour bus through Manhattan and got off at the 9/11 Memorial. People were milling about, talking and taking pictures or standing in line to get in the museum which stands between the two memorials, one for each tower that fell. It seemed very calm…an understandable reverence filled the place. I didn’t see anyone crying, but we were all emotional…at least those of us old enough to remember. Michelle and I walked around each memorial looking at the names of those that were lost that day and the white roses placed on the names of people with birthdays on or around June 12th.
Eventually we came to another small memorial we’d never heard of…the Survivor Tree. It was the only tree left standing at the WTC after 911. I think this touched me the most. The plaque there reads:
The Callery pear tree stands distinct from the hundreds of swamp white oak trees on the Memorial. It was discovered among the wreckage of the 9/11 attacks, its bark charred from fire at the site and many of its limbs reduced to stumps. Yet somehow, the tree, still bearing leaves, showed signs of life.
Recovery workers transported the tree to a nursery in the Bronx to be cared for by the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. With careful tending, the stumps of burned and gnarled bark gave growth to longer and smoother branches. Replanted at the 9/11 Memorial in December 2010, this Survivor Tree bursts into magnificent blossom each spring, embodying a living symbol of resilience.
This was what I took away from the 9/11 Memorial more than anything else. Sure, it might be considered an insignificant life to some…. just a tree without thought, or emotion, or loved ones. But it lived despite the hate which targeted the WTC, the Pentagon, and America that day. It endured much as the American spirit did.
Every year since 2013, seedings from the Survivor Tree are given as a symbol of hope and resiliency to communities around the world which have experienced tragedy. Its seedlings will continue to thrive around the world for many years.
Maybe today should be a day to remember the ones we lost, the emotion we felt, even the hatred. I prefer to remember the way it brought us all together as Americans. We all wept together that day. There was no animosity between us. Whatever the following twenty years did to us, we should always remember 9/11… and teach the ones who were not here yet.
-Big Steve