What had been a bustling center of international commerce, after the collapses was a wasteland. Brown dust and smoke thicker than any fog filled the air and the only sound was the eerie chirping of multiple emergency vehicles - a sound, we all learned, installed specifically for this purpose - for when they could not be located by vision.
In that place, where we remember a young doctor in that thick, deadly air asking a firefighter for a hit of oxygen so that he could continue searching out and caring for the injured, today there is this beautiful structure that reflects the city all around it. Today it was dedicated and opened to the public.
There are boxes of tissues in every room and emergency exits from all of them because, yes, there could be an emergency there, but the more likely frequent use will be that you simply cannot take any more just now and, overwhelmed, have to step outside to collect yourself.
President Obama dedicated this National 9-11 Memorial Museum today. Familiar political figures joined the Clintons: former New York Governor Pataki, then New York City Mayor Guiliani, former Mayor Bloomberg, and Congressman Peter King.
In these days when Hillary so often reminds us that partisan extremism paralyzes the work of government, for one day at least, we had a flashback to that time 13 years ago when we were not Democrats or Republicans. We were all Americans. That's who we were. That's who we are.
Here's a tour. It is truly a beautiful tribute to all who were lost, to all who responded, and to all who survived. I doubt I will ever visit. I simply cannot go through that day another time.
