On 9/11 Anniversary, a Small and Somber Ritual in Lower Manhattan - nytimes

At 8:48 a.m., 14 years and two minutes after a plane crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center, the recitation of the names began.

A crowd of hundreds gathered on Friday under a canopy of swamp white oak trees in the plaza between where the twin towers once stood, having come out for what has become a rite of remembrance each year — a reading of the victims’ names.

The turnout this year was noticeably smaller than in years past. Fourteen does not carry the weight of a milestone, like 10 years, or 25. But for those who convened on the overcast morning — most of them family members of the 2,977 people who were killed on that day in 2001 — the event was critical.

They vowed to never forget their loved ones and the way they died. They acknowledged that some grieved differently, or could not get away on a weekday morning or had many other valid reasons for not attending, but for them, this event remained a way to keep that promise. - Read More at NYT

On 9/11 Anniversary, a Small and Somber Ritual in Lower Manhattan

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