On Sunday, we took our son to see the Healing Field in my town (have I told you how much I love my town?) to commemorate those who perished on 9/11.
While I wasn’t planning on writing a post on it, I was so impressed and overwhelmed by it all that I had to share. 3,200 perfectly aligned flags standing 8 feet tall represented each individual. 
Of course, each flag had a tag to explain who we lost. Who were they? What did they like to do? What family did they leave behind?
Flag after flag we read. We walked in near silence, and we cried. Okay, I cried. They were just silent.
Some stunning numbers to remember.
My son was only 2-years old at the time of the attack, and I vividly remember struggling to keep to our daily schedule on that day. We sat glued to the television screen while trying to be “normal” for him.
While it was a horrible lesson to have to teach him, it was a lesson nonetheless. The visual perspective of what this country suffered on that day brought up a lot of conversations for us and is something he will remember for years to come.
If you’d like to know more about Healing Field, you can visit their website. They offer various versions of the display and list where upcoming events are taking place. Have you been to one? Perhaps you can share your experience with others in the comments. Everyone has their personal story, and I’d love to hear them.
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Wow, this is so amazing. I can only imagine how overwhelming it must be to read about each person…beautiful way to remember. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for sharing the Healing Field in your town. I’m from New York, so of course there are many memorial services on this anniversary each year here. It is nice to see what others do in the rest of the country. The Healing Field looks like a remarkable place. What a nice touch to add the names of each of the people lost on each flag. I know personally many people who were affected on this day. I wrote about my experience at my blog.
http://flowerhilldesigncompany.blogspot.com/2011/09/my-911-hero.html
That has to be the most beautiful and powerful Memorial I have ever seen. Thank you so much for sharing.
I’m so glad you decided to write a post about this and share the experience with us. What a moving and memorable place to be on 9/11. God Bless America.
Wow — your pictures are amazing. Much better than mine for sure! We have one here near us in Utah that they did that ends today. We went on Monday and it was one of the most powerful experience ever. I cried too. I was pregnant with my oldest daughter when it happened and I was so scared thinking “I can’t believe I’m bringing a child into a world where things like this are happening.” It is hard to believe it’s been 10 years since that day. At our Healing Field (http://www.healingfield.org/sandy-ut-2011/) they have erected a statue of the 3 fireman that raised the flag at Ground Zero and it is just as powerful as all those flags. I’m so happy that we will forever have a reminding us of the day we lost so many … and the day we all stood together. Thanks for all the beautiful pictures.
Wow. I’m at a loss for words… I’ve never seen something so beautiful with regard to remembering those precious lives lost on that beautiful sunny morning. A powerful display, indeed.
Thanks for sharing; I am certain I would’ve cried, too.
I went to the same location and blogged about it on Sunday. It was such an incredible experience and I was so glad to share it with my kids. I, too, was struck by the stories, several of which comprise my post. http://twelvehats.blogspot.com/2011/09/healing-field.html
*tears*
That’s all I can choke out.
Oh, and beautiful.
Wow! That is so powerful and personalized. I just love it. It’s so strange meeting kids so young when 9/11 happened. A friend of mine is a high school teacher and she told me that they officially started teaching about 9/11 in history this year. Hard to believe high schoolers today were only 4 when it happened!
Annika
A Sweet Release
Wow. This is so moving, I was brought to tears just reading this post. I vividly remember that day. I know there was a small field of flags near where I live but they were the mini flags and unfortunately, we did not get to make it to see them. I would love to be able to visit this field with my kids. I Google’d and looks like the closest one is almost 4 hrs away.
The one they do near my hometown in Arizona is just as emotional… for every child that died they place a stuffed animal at the base of their flag pole. They also do a memorial service with a speaker
(usually a survivor, or a relative of someone lost) and bagpipes, very emotional!
That is incredible!!! What an awesome tribute to the people who lost their lives. Thanks for sharing it – I hope to see the display myself someday.
That is simply breathtaking. I applaud your city as well — and HAVE to visit next time I head North!
This looks like one of the nicest memorials I’ve ever seen. What a great idea.
(just a note: the “Michael’s” ad is stretched right across the photo of the memorial…)
What an amazing display…. brought tears to my eyes just looking at your pictures…Thank you so much for sharing. I have read many blogs and articles on 9/11 about 9/11 but yours was the most powerful. How long will the display be up… ? Would like to see it .
Beautiful photos Chris. I went to the Healing Field on Saturday. It was such a powerful and moving experience – I’m so glad they did it.
wow! that is absolutely amazing! i dont think i could read more than one before i would be bawling my eyes out. i’m tearing up now lol. i wish i could see it. I do know that Indianapolis, i love in Kokomo about an hour away, has a memorial with actual beams from the towers. my brother and i (he’s a firefighter) plan on going to see it hopefully soon. Thanks for sharing this with us! ♥
The Healing Field is absolutely breathtaking and heartbreaking all at the same time. I am absolutely MOVED by this, and have discussed it with my coworkers & we are going to work to put one of these in our town. There isn’t one in VA *at least not on the site*, we need one for sure.
That is absolutely breathtaking….thank you for sharing.
amazing post…:)
Wow, that is really amazing and what a wonderful way to pay tribute. I especially love that every flag had a person’s name on it. My son was also two at the time of the attack and my daughter was just a few months old. This year my daughter watched a little bit of the memorials and such with me on TV. I was hesitant at first but she has such a wonderful and kind heart and she was better able to understand why I am so emotional about it every year. If we have anything like that near us I will definitely be there. What a great way to spend the day in honor of all those lost.
We went to one on Monday here in Utah. I cried too. How could I not? My 8 year old daughter was very interested in it all after talking about it at home and learning about it at school. She thought it was really neat to find the flags and read the cards for those people on flight 93 whose stories she had heard. Definitely an overwhelming memorial!
That is amazing! So much work must’ve gone into setting that up! Love it!!
I should have mentioned that part. 100 of our students went to help other volunteers to set up the flags. It was so awesome for the younger generation to be a part of it. Really nice!
All I can say is WOW! What an amazing visual that really brings it all home. Thank you for sharing. Your town is amazing.
Julie
Thank you so much for sharing this! I had a 2 year old and an infant on 9-11-01. My 12 year old has also asked tons of questions- “Where were we? What did you do?” and the ever present “WHY?”
These kinds of memorials really give concrete ways for all of us to connect and deal with it.
Many Thanks,
Kerry at housetalkn.blogspot.com
Thank you so much for sharing this. The pictures are beautiful and this really is a wonderful way of remembering and seeing the enormity of the loss. I’m a Brit and have only lived in the United States for a short time so am just really now learning about what happened – I had no idea that so many firefighters were lost, or that 90 fire engines were crushed. That’s beyond words. My kids have been learning about what happened at school this week so it’s been an incredible eye-opener to me.
Very touching!!! It gave me chills looking at your pictures, love how they are honored. Thanks for sharing!
Wow what an amazing and beautiful memorial! Thank you for sharing the Healing Field!
This is the most beautiful tribute I have ever seen. So patriotic and yet so personal with the tags too. Thank you for sharing.
My husband and i took our 3 daughters to this same Memorial. (our oldest was only 10 months old when 9/11 happened) It was beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. I took photos to share with the rest of our family who don’t live in the area, but thank you for sharing this special place with so many more people.