By Saziye Gourley-Ozhayta 04.11.2014

“Look at that fluffy unicorn! It’s so fluffy I’m gonna die…”

 

That was sound of my alarm that awoke us. There’s nothing like having four girls in one room trying to bump and weave to prepare for the day. After breakfast, we hopped on the subway, which just made me want to bathe in hand sanitizer. Ok, well maybe not bathe, but use it constantly throughout the day.

 

We rode the subway south to the last stop. As we came up from underground, there was our destination for the morning: the 9/11 Memorial. After last year’s communications/arts trip to New York City, I thought I knew what to expect and what I was going to see. This time, though, I was touched in an unexpected way.

 

As I stood where the South tower had fallen, a boy about 14-years old came up beside me. His nose and cheeks were red. He wouldn’t look at his friends while he talked to them. After a few minutes, they left and the boy stood silent. When I looked over, he had tears welling up in his eyes.

 

At that moment, I saw his pain. He might have had a family member within the towers. Who knows? I was just shocked by his emotional response.

 

It’s hard to believe that this tragic event happened nearly 13 years ago. If you think about it, he was just a baby.