I'LL NEVER FORGET THE WALLS OF SORROW!

It's hard to believe that 23 years have passed since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I worked in New York city at that time, and I remember that day like it was yesterday.

I'll also always remember the "Walls of Sorrow" - a post-9/11 phenomenon that gets very little media attention, but if you lived or worked in New York City during this time, you know what I'm talking about.

It was hard to avoid the Walls of Sorrow that were scattered throughout a city reeling from shock and grief.

They sprung up at the site of the terrorist attacks, in front of fire houses, police stations and just about any high foot-traffic area. Depending on where your daily pedestrian travels took you, you could walk by several walls of sorrow - usually twice a day.

The Wall of Sorrow that I walked past every workday for what seemed like months, was located near Penn Station / Madison Square Garden. I worked in Two Penn Plaza which stands on top of Penn Station and is connected to "The Garden".

This wall as all others, was a photo mosaic of everyday people and first responders - usually photographed during happy milestones such as graduations, weddings, christenings and holiday celebrations.

The subjects of these photographs eerily gazed into a what they thought during the frozen millisecond of the snapshot, was a promising and happy future.

Little did these unfortunate, doomed souls know at the time, was that that these moments would be forever preserved, but their futures would be forever vaporized.

Every time I walked past this wall, my heart sank.

I knew that these people were not missing or wandering around disoriented from the aftershock of the downtown terrorist attacks - They were gone forever.

I also felt rotten for thinking this way and began making a conscious effort to avoid walking past the Wall of Sorrow. Instead of walking on 7th Avenue, I entered Two Penn Plaza via the 8th Avenue entrance to Penn Station.

Yet, how could anyone blame the desperate, frantic, grieving families for posting the photos and praying to their God for a miracle more monumental in scope than all those in the Bible combined?

How helpless we all were in not being able to offer a tip, a clue, or the remote possibility that we saw any of the people in the photos on a hospital gurney but still breathing, on a subway platform trying to remember the way home, or conducting their own personal, determined search for fallen comrades and colleagues amongst the rubble and ashes?

I WANT YOU TO LOOK VERY CLOSELY AT THIS IMAGE.

These photos represent thousands of victims who will never be forgotten by their surviving families and friends. The rest of us must never forget either and we must tell our children and grandchildren about this horrific day.

Now more than ever, perhaps the 23rd anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on our shores can be a reminder that we as country need to be united rather than divided. Vigilant rather than distracted.

Do you remember walking past a Wall of Sorrow? How did it make you feel?

#NeverForget #WallsofSorrow #September11th