My name is Adriana Maluendas, and I was present at Ground Zero, as the area where the World Trade Center (WTC) buildings stood is called, which collapsed after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, when I nearly lost my life. I witnessed the horror, pain, suffering, and devastation caused by the hatred of some radical terrorist fanatics. For nearly a decade and a half, I have been struggling to find healing from the traumas suffered that day. Physical, mental, and spiritual traumas. I am detailing my struggles to reclaim my former self in a book/memoir that should be available next year.
I had the privilege and honor of being present at the official opening of the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum, which has played a unique and very special role in my healing process and in my personal recovery. I must admit that it was a challenge for me to return to the place where the hotel I was staying was located, as it was there that the twin towers had fallen, right around me. But, with all my fears, I knew it would be a challenge to go back there, yet it was something I had to do, and I do not regret it.
This visit to the museum proved to me how strong the human spirit can be and how much we, human beings, are willing to risk to help others, even putting our lives at risk.
Anyone who visits the museum leaves with a greater appreciation for life and with a more pronounced purpose to help others. The story that the museum reveals honors individual stories of pain, loss, and overcoming – and shows how flowers can bloom beneath the melted snow. This helps us prepare for a better future, and that past sorrows can help us appreciate the joys of the future.
I wish that all citizens of the USA could have the opportunity to visit the Memorial and gain a personal insight into this tragic event. I hope that in the future we can remember that when the city was attacked, the American people came together and rose up to face the world. I also hope that people from other countries, especially from my home country, Brazil, will also come to visit the museum and gain a better understanding of what makes the USA a great country and what makes Americans part of a great nation with their ability to respond to adversity and become stronger than ever.
But, what can we learn about the terrorist attack? The question “Why?” has often been in my heart and on my lips, as it is beyond my capacity to comprehend a level of evil and hatred that would lead to the attacks carried out that day. Despite my Catholic upbringing, it goes beyond my limited human heart to forgive and love freely the individuals responsible for the attacks and those who, to this day, want to destroy anyone who does not adhere to their form of worship, or rather, their destructive ideologies.
Of course, today, it is not about blaming or forgiving. It is about remembering and honoring. It is about the attempt to bring meaning to a senseless act. Everything that happened that day; everyone who suffered or died; each story, those who know and those who will never hear again, after all, everything deserves to be remembered and honored.
I am here to remember and honor those we lost that day and to add my story to this legacy. I carried some objects with me that day. Now I am donating these objects to the museum for various reasons. For me, personally, I hope this helps to release some of the emotional pain I have carried for so many years. For those who will still visit the museum, I hope it serves as a reminder and shows how little time the victims had and the magnitude of the destruction that day.
Finally, I hope these small pieces of plastic and paper serve as a light of hope and strength. Hope that, in the future, we will find a way for no one to feel the need to be so destructive, and strength to withstand the challenges that are determined, and face them with hope for reality.