Adrianna Maliga – Tribute in Light

The day of September 11, 2001 was very hectic. I remember it clearly, even though I barely spoke English. I had just returned from my two-year stay in Poland, and I forgot how to speak English. I knew it was chaotic, and to this day it still has an effect on me. This year, my whole family was returning from upstate New York—we were visiting family friends—and we were speeding down the West Side Highway. Between 9:15 and 9:30 PM, we were not too far away from Stuyvesant High School, which isn’t far off from the site of the former Twin Towers. I grabbed my sister’s film camera and click click click! Snapped a few photos of the beams of light. These beautiful pillars of energy soared up to the sky that night, illuminating the clouds, the world. They remind me of fire and power, especially how strong America and New York really can be. I needed that energy in me right then and there because flashbacks to the day it happened and how much is shook me overwhelmed my system. There’s no way to stop the hypothetical situations from playing in my head, even to this day.