12th Anniversary of September 11 Attacks

There's nowhere I'd rather be today than in New York, but alas, not this year.

I'll be back out there again, though. I can't wait to see the Freedom Tower again, and to see the bustling burst of freedom and memory that you find in Lower Manhattan at this time.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Twelve Years Later, Nation Pauses to Reflect: Ceremonies in New York, Washington Commemorate Sept. 11 Anniversary":

Wednesday marks the 12th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, with events planned across the country to commemorate the tragedy.

The official New York City tribute began at the National September 11 Memorial plaza at the World Trade Center site. Wednesday morning, the names of the 2,983 victims lost in 2001 and the bombing of the site in 1993 were being read, and six pauses were to mark when the planes hit the towers, when they fell and when the Pentagon and Flight 93 were attacked.

Hundreds of families gathered at the memorial, hoisting balloons, pictures and signs into the air as names are read. One family let a group of balloons into the air.

"I miss you every moment," said the mom of Joshua Todd Aron, after she read his name.

With so many years having passed since the attacks, some of the relatives who read names stopped to tell their missing loved ones about milestones: children born, youngsters who have grown up to look like a lost parent.

Christine and Bernard Resta have returned every year since the attacks that killed their son, John, his wife Sylvia Sanpio Resta and the couple's unborn grandchild. "At first when we came, it was all destroyed and leveled, and then little by little it came back to life," Christine Resta, 83 years old, said.

Seeing the spire ascend into the sky—and the reality that people will soon work here again—brings mixed emotions to the couple.

"When I think of the tower, I wonder how people are going to work in it," John Resta, also 83, said. "All I can think about is my son and his wife and the baby." A few seconds later, looking up at the structure, he said "but it's a beautiful building."

His wife said she appreciated the notion that the tower stands for America's resilience—"that we aren't going to take it." But when the couple comes from Florida, where they retired, it's still not easy. "This is sacred ground," she said. "As long as they save the place for that."

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