I Will Never Forget: A Tribute to New York on 9/11

A dear friend of mine asked me to share this, in honor of September 11th…

 

I find it hard to imagine it has been ten years since the 9/11 tragedy. There has been so much transformation in the world, good and bad. And so many things have changed politically and globally. Yet one thing I feel has not changed.

I have posted this message every year since the 9/11 tragedy and it still brings tears to my eyes and brings me back to that tragic day in NYC when time stood still as we watched and felt the ever vivid tragedgy unroll in front of our eyes and then so quickly following a community of people coming together and rising above the ashes, it still makes me feel proud (and I am sure so many others) to not only be a born and raised New Yorker but to be an American. To live in a country where I have the ability to live MY life and to fufill MY dreams in any way I can think possible. 

NYC took a massive hit 10 years ago, but the city, is still standing. I watched as friends and family suffered, but those people have overcome. Our city was struck in the heart yet that heart is still beating. And on this 9/11  my prayers go out to all of the families that are still affected by 9/11.

Even though I have said goodbye to New York and  New York City as my home, I am a New Yorker and I will never forget.

A Tribute to New York on the Anniversary of 9/11, written by Vincent Pasquale, Maspeth , NY

 I am a New Yorker 

I am a New Yorker

I live in the five boroughs or on the Island or Upstate

I went to SUNY Colleges

I may live hundreds or thousands of miles away

Or I may live just over the GW Bridge

But I am a New Yorker

I am a New Yorker

Whatever took me out of New York :

Business, family or hating the cold

did not take New York out of me.

My accent may have faded and my pace may have slowed

But I am a New Yorker

I am a New Yorker

I was raised on Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and Rockefeller Plaza ,

The Yankees or the Met’s (Giants or Dodgers)

Jones Beach, Rye Beach, Orchard Beach, Sunken Meadow or one of the beaches on the sound

I know that ‘THE END’ means Montauk.

Because I am a New Yorker

I am a New Yorker

When I go on vacation, I never look up

Sky scrapers are something I take for granted

The Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty are part of me

Taxis and noise and subways and ‘get outa heah’ don’t rattle me

Because I am a New Yorker

I am a New Yorker

I was raised on cultural diversity before it was politically correct

I eat Armenian food, Greek food and Italian food,

Jewish and Middle Eastern food and Chinese food

Because they are all American food to me.

I even eat those Bellie Bombs -White Castle’s

I don’t get mad when people speak other languages in my presence

Because my relatives got to this country via Ellis Island and chose to stay

They were New Yorkers

People who have never been to New York have misunderstood me

My friends and family work in the industries, professions and businesses that benefit all Americans

My firefighters died trying to save New Yorkers and non-New Yorkers

They died trying to save Americans and non-Americans

Because they were New Yorkers.

I am a New Yorker

I feel the pain of my fellow New Yorkers

I mourn the loss of my beautiful city

I feel and dread that New York will never be the same But then I remember:

I am a New Yorker

And New Yorkers have:

Tenacity, strength and courage way above the norm.

Compassion and caring for our fellow citizens.  Love and pride in our city, in our state, in our country.

Intelligence, experience and education par excellence.  Ability, dedication and energy above and beyond Faith–no matter what religion we practice.

Terrorists hit America in its heart but America ’s heart still beats strong.  Demolish the steel in our buildings, but it doesn’t touch the steel in our souls.

Hit us in the pocketbook but we’ll parlay what we have left into a fortune.

End innocent lives leaving widows and orphans, but we’ll take care of them because they are New Yorkers

Wherever we live, whatever we do, whoever we are  there are New Yorkers in every state and every city of this nation.

We will not abandon our city.

We will not abandon our brothers and sisters

We will not abandon the beauty, creativity and diversity that New York represents.

We are New Yorkers  and we are proud to be New Yorkers

REMEMBER THE WTC 

Author – Vincent Pasquale, Maspeth , NY  Thank you Vincent for allowing us to share this all around the world.