Flight 93 in Shanksville, PA

Big family wedding in Virginia this weekend, lots of fun! It was a beautiful outdoor wedding, and a beautiful, happy couple! Staying up late after the rehearsal dinner we sat by the pool so we could catch up with brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins. Great food, great wine, great company, great memories!

Driving home we decided to stop at the 9/11 Flight 93 Memorial at Shanksville, PA, where we spent about 3 hours. Until you drive up to it, and into the parking lot, you have heard it described, but you don’t realize it’s quite literally a field in rural PA.

The museum is filled with artifacts and finds from the plane crashed by American heroes who were stopping another plane from hitting NY or DC. Based on the flight path, it is believed Flight 93 was headed for the Capital Building, which would have been filled with people. Listening to the phone calls from passengers on the plane to loved ones will break your heart.

It was a beautiful, clear, sunny day, just as it had been on 9/11. The trees and tall grasses rustled in the wind, just like they did on 9/11. The memorial trail and building are situated on what they know to be the flight path of Flight 93. It’s a somber place. It’s a sacred place. It’s a mass grave. Every one should see it. Feel it.

It was such a moving experience, I don’t even know how to process it all. I don’t know how such evil exists in the world when there’s so much beauty, dignity, and grace, yet it does.

Not sure if I want to make something in my art about this, or just hold the experience close to my heart for a while longer.

Beth