Miss Ann Says

thoughts from everyday life
Miss Ann Says
  • About Me & Media Bio:
  • Speaker/Writer
  • Daily Archives: March 4, 2012

    • an unexpected blessing

      Posted at 12:18 am by missannsays, on March 4, 2012

      When I opened that large manila envelope six and half years ago and read about an opportunity to volunteer with the September 11 Family Association as a docent, I had no idea what a blessing lay before me. I had no idea that six  years later I would have completed 250 public tours for the Tribute Center, numerous tours for family and friends and that Tribute Center tour would now be the official walking tour of the National September 11 Memorial. To be honest I had to look the word docent up in the dictionary.  Then I thought I am not even a member of the September 11 Family Association. I hadn’t joined any groups in the months and years after September 11.  I remember calling and saying I was interested in finding out more about these walking tours at the “site”.  I traveled into NYC for the first interview with Rachel and I was so nervous.  I knew nothing about lower Manhattan.  I knew nothing about the World Trade Center.  I had only been there twice in my whole life.  I barely knew the facts of September 11.   The “stomping ” ground of my youth  had always been from the Port Authority to Columbus Circle for auditions and dance classes. Or Greenwich Village for acting lessons.  But all of that was a lifetime ago. In recent years my trips into NYC had been to take my girls to the Rockefeller Center tree lighting or a Broadway show or the Bronx Zoo. This traveling into lower Manhattan was new and scary.   What was I thinking?

      Actually I know exactly what I was thinking.  The Tribute Center’s mission was “person to person” history and I knew I could do that.  I could tell my story/ Bruce’s story.  I had already told “our” story many times but that was in churches or at ladies groups. This was a whole new thing but I knew I had to try.  So I went to the training. I felt like I was going to throw up the whole time I was driving there.  I was sure I was in way over my head.  When I walked into the training Bruce’s captain was there.  Wow!! Thank you, Lord.  A nod from God. The training was going along nicely and then it was mentioned that you shouldn’t get political. Well, that was fine I am not political. And then a fellow trainee commented “you shouldn’t get too religious either”. Oh no, now I am going to have to say something.  I cautiously raised my hand and said that if we weren’t allowed to mention God I would respect that but if they wanted me to tell my story I had to mention God because God was my story. And I was told that if God was part of my story I could mention God.  Wow!!  A big nod from God.

      And now six and half years later, I tell my story. I say “That there are two things have gotten me through the last 10 years.  The first thing is my faith. God has gotten me through. And the second is the fact that my husband was a New York City firefighter. It was his job to go into those buildings. A job that he loved.”  I also say “That when I started doing tours, I only had my story and that was enough but now I know the story of my fellow docents –  other family members, survivors, fire responders, and rescue workers, who saw things no one should ever see. Downtown residents who couldn’t go home for weeks and even months. I believe the story of September 11 is a mosaic. That the stories are like little pieces of glass that lay next to each other to make the picture of what happened on September 11, 2001 –  hundreds of thousands of stories that come together to tell the story.”

      Being a docent has been an unexpected blessing for me and I love giving tours and I am awed by my fellow docents and everyone at Tribute – what an amazing group of people.  So on Monday I will talk to two school groups, lead the 1pm tour and then support 3 pm tour or to quote one of my fellow docents ” I will get my volunteer on”.  By the way, if you are ever in Manhattan stop by the Tribute Center,120 Liberty St and you may get unexpected blessing, too.

      Posted in memories, relationships, September 11 | 1 Comment | Tagged following Jesus, September 11, telling the next generation
    • Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

      Join 783 other subscribers
    • Follow Miss Ann Says on WordPress.com
    • Recent Posts

      • Exploring
      • Dinner with friends
      • Panic to peace
      • An example to follow
      • A mouse in the house
    • Archives

    • Categories

    • 9/11 Tribute Center 911 Tribute Museum Anne of Green Gables Appalachian Trail apple atore autumnal ballet Bill Bryson books Brussels cancer Christmas circus community Concert for New York City Corrie ten Boom counterculture David Bowie Department of State Downton Abbey Dunkin Donuts Facebook faith family FDNY following Jesus friendship frozen meatballs gated communities Halloween heart monitors Home Depot home improvement projects Hope iPhone Japan kid stuff le leche little things love story Mennonite Merchant's House Mr. Spock museum National September 11 Museum NYC pandemic Paris peace peer pressure prayer randomness random thoughts reading list real estate respect Seattle September 11 Shop Rite speaking Star Trek switch plates television telling the next generation terrorism The Whitney tours travel travel thoughts twilight zone walking tours writing
    • latest tweets

      • @goodreads Nomadland 1 week ago
      • Uterine cancer recognized as 9/11 illness, widening scope of World Trade Center Health Program silive.com/news/2023/01/u… 2 weeks ago
      • Declassified: 9/11 Commission Interviews with Bush and Cheney …ing-classification.blogs.archives.gov/2022/11/09/dec… 2 months ago
      • Change in Health Care Companies Creating Chaos for Crews Sickened by 9//11 Attack firehouse.com/safety-health/… 2 months ago
      • Perelman Performing Arts Center at World Trade Center names executive director gothamist.com/arts-entertain… via @gothamist 3 months ago
    • March 2012
      M T W T F S S
       1234
      567891011
      12131415161718
      19202122232425
      262728293031  
      « Feb   Apr »

Website Powered by WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Miss Ann Says
    • Join 135 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Miss Ann Says
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar