Spencer Schneier
   News Editor

I remember it well, standing across the water and looking at the Manhattan skyline.

I asked my mother if we could go to the top of the World Trade Center, with the Twin Towers being my favorite buildings in the entire city. “Not today Spencer, it’s not like they’re going anywhere,” she replied.

What seemed in my memory like a split-second later (but in reality was a little over a week), I remember my mother trying to hold back tears as she watched something on TV. While I was oblivious as to what was going on, it had become clear to many that the World Trade Center was the target of a large-scale attack.

Luckily, my father had not yet made it to the city when it became clear it was no ordinary day, and we did not have to worry, as many others did, about the well-being of a family member.

Sept. 11 was a day for the United States that forever changed the outlook of its people — the type of tragic event that seemed to occur only on the news in far off places. For the people of New York, it was a crucible that tested the resolve of a city that so often prides itself on being unlike any other.

It showed the worst of humanity, but as is often the case in these situations, it also showed the best. In the face of devastating terrorist attacks, police officers, firemen and military personnel rushed into the buildings and tried to save as many people as they could, and for at least one day the relationship with the city’s servicemen and women was not particularly complicated.

Hundreds of these servicemen and women were killed in the collapse of the buildings, but their actions are something that stayed with the city, ingrained into its culture.

The terrible event killed a little under 3,000 people, and for a day, the city that never sleeps took a break.

The aftermath was difficult for New Yorkers who were forced to deal with the reality of the events, and forced to clean up with the dust literally not yet settled. Some were angry, some felt powerless and everyone grieved.

My kindergarten class, after being out of session for a few days after the attacks, took a day to discuss what had happened. For a bunch of small children, the numbing events seemed much simpler, and perhaps that was to our benefit.

We discussed why people would want to hijack airplanes and crash them into buildings, and while we were not able to wrap our minds around the reasons that could cause such actions, we all felt the shock and sadness that was shared by all who witnessed the attacks.

Time went by after the attacks, the city healed and the country went through its grieving process. People moved on, and the events became a part of history for many who were too young to remember the events.

This past weekend, walking through New York City for the first time since One World Trade Center had opened for business, I stopped and looked at it and couldn’t help but be amazed. It stood proud and defiant in the middle of the city, the centerpiece of the Manhattan skyline.

One can take the elevator to the observation deck near the top of the building, and one will see the history of Manhattan from that vantage point. It’s a captivating and powerful experience to watch a proud city erupt from a small Dutch settlement, but that city stands for so much of what we consider to be American.

Perhaps just as telling are the two fountains that sit near the base of One World Trade Center, two square-shaped fountains that sit exactly where the foundations of the original World Trade Center once were.

The fountains and the beautiful surrounding park represent the tragic events and the soul-searching that came afterwards.

These stand as a perfect symbol for what being a New Yorker is — respecting the importance of the past, acknowledging tragedy, but still standing tall and proud.