Words to remember you by...

In the World Financial Center, across the street from my hotel, there is a beautiful memorial fountain, commissioned by American Express to remember the eleven AmEx employees who died in the towers, just a few feet away from where this fountain now stands.


I see it through the window every night when I walk back to my hotel; a huge, sparkling piece of quartz that seems to radiate light, hovering above a shallow, black granite pool with eleven sides. Every few minutes, eleven drops of water fall into the pool, symbolizing tears and creating intersecting ripples. It is a powerful, elegant memorial.

Just below the crystal, in the center of the pool, the granite is inscribed with the date September 11, 2001.


Around the perimeter, on each of the eleven sides, are inscribed the names of the lost. And above the names, beneath the glassy surface of water, the fountain's granite floor is carved with words of remembrance describing each person. I thought it was interesting to see what words these people's family and friends chose to remember them by.