Ten years after terrorism inspired acts of bravery and solidarity across the nation, the Morristown area community gathered at the Mayo Performing Arts Center to celebrate its resilience and diversity.
The communitywide “remembrance event” honored the memories of the victims of 9/11 and all touched by the tragedy in a program of speakers, music, dance and video.
Memorializing two of those victims, young adultsClarissa Lotson and Gaius Charles read letters written by children to their parents who died on Sept. 11, 2011.
In her letter, 14-year-oldJulia Beatini tells her fatherPaul how she’s found solace in the arts. When she was small, “drawing could take away some of the ache inside me,” she says. “I still find peace in arts. I still cherish the experience of creating something beautiful.”
“I’ve learned life’s greatest lesson: Nothing is permanent. But I know I’ll always have art. I love you and miss you, Dad.”
Joe DiFazio, 23, recalls the last time he saw his father, Vincent, and how he didn’t speak to him because he was angry at being sent to bed before a televised ballgame ended. “‘I love you champ,’ he told the back of my head. I never heard your voice again. I wish that someday you could have held my kids. … More than anything, I wish I could hear your voice again.”
Several speakers recalled where they were when hijacked airplanes struck the Twin Towers in New York, their shocked and horrified reactions and how the world altered afterwards.
“I remember what a beautiful morning it was. I recall thinking, ‘What a bizarre accident’” realizing it was an act of terrorism, said Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty. “Since 9/11, the world has changed and our country has changed.”
But the terrorists failed, he said. “Their goal to destroy the heart and soul of American failed. … We remain strong, we remain compassionate and we remain free.”
Speakers of several faiths offered reflections.
Feyza Teke brought a message from the Peace Islands Institute, formed by Turkish-American Muslims in 2003 to promote respect and understanding among all faiths and cultures.
“We condemn the brutal terrorist attacks in the strongest terms,” she said. “Let us once again call upon the spirit of dialogue, understanding and respect.”
Teke, who wears a headscarf, recounted her resolve to work toward interfaith understanding after an elderly lady on the streets of New York told her she wore a “stupid outfit” when she was 14 or 15. “I was in shock.”
She and her mother confronted the woman, who told her: “I just don’t like you and your people.”
“I said, ‘I’m American, you’re American, what’s the difference?’” Teke said. “It was then I realized it’s what inside you that really matters.”
Pastor David Silva of Centro Biblico de New Jersey spoke of American’s resilience and the importance of hope, faith and love.
“When we come together as a country … and we help each other … or we give a word of comfort,” he said, “at that moment we are helping in rebuilding and healing and building a foundation for the future.”
The Rev. Janet Broderick, rector ofSt. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Morristown, recalled working for a hot dog vendor in Manhattan and watching the World Trade Center rise. “He kept telling me, ‘Janet, it’s gonna be the biggest building in the world.’ It was amazing to see that building [go up] and so absolutely terrifying to see it come down.”
Echoing her sermon at the church’s memorial service that morning, she described the final phone calls of people in the towers that day. “First they described the situation, and then it poured out: ‘I love you.’ Nothing petty. … Just, ‘I love you. Let me hear your voice.’ … Perhaps we can learn to do that.”
Rabbi Donald Rossoff of Temple B’nai Or in Morristown also described lessons from 9/11. Among them: “that which is of steel and concrete can be replaced,” but that which is flesh and blood cannot; great evil can ensue when one person believes only he has the truth; “what unites us is more powerful than what divides us;” and “what defines and unites us as Americans is our personal commitment to an ideal”
“Love bridges the gap between his world and the next,” he said. “When we see our face in the face of the other, the face we see is the face of the divine.”
The speakers were interspersed with performances by various artists, from dancer Mairead Fahy to solo classical pianist Julia Cipriani to a group of current and former Mayo Center performing arts school students who ended the program singing “America Rising” by Sharilyn Pitifer-Minetti and Rino Minetti. Mark Conklin performed his tribute song “September 12th” on guitar, accompanied by a violinist, cellos and second vocalist.
The New Jersey Youth Chorus performed three songs.
In the days following the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon in 2001, “What was it that helped console people and ease the pain?” asked Trish Joyce, founder and director. “It was the arts. When times are good and especially when times are bad, people turn to music. People want to sing together. People need to sing together.”
The evening ended outdoors, with community members quietly lighting candles lining the reflecting pool in front of the Vail Mansion.
