I have never felt so witness to anything in my entire life.
My father was a Suffolk County policeman and his partner lost his brother, a transit cop in New York City. On the first anniversary, I went very early that morning and I set myself up on a barricade to watch all the parades come in from all five boroughs. At some point when it got to be morning light, Yo-Yo Ma started to play his cello, I looked down below me and there was one of my father’s old motorcycle partners who lost his brother. Their entire family was there. They saw me and they said you are with us and there I went. Getting down into the pit of 9/11 with this family - who had special passes - was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I will never forget it. I went down into that pit with all of the Red Cross services that they provided and it was one of the most beautiful and solemn things. I have never felt so witness to anything in my entire life.
Jill Murtha
