The Family Room at One Liberty Plaza | World Trade Center Site

Family Reflections

  • Anthony Gardner, Brother of Harvey Joseph Gardner III

    Family Room (detail)For so many years the Family Room was all we had. Many of us had no remains of our loved ones.  The 9/11 Memorial and Museum were not yet open, and the Family Room became a place of pilgrimage, tribute, quiet reflection and pride—it was our place to grieve, to connect to our loved ones. Through years of visits and tributes, it grew organically, and over time, the space was infused with a power and sacredness.
    Anthony Gardner, Brother of Harvey Joseph Gardner III, 1WTC, 83rd Floor  Founding Director, The September 11th Education Trust

  • Anthoula Katsimatides, Sister of John Katsimatides

    Family Room (detail)Part of my job, while working at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC), was taking care of the Family Room. It was an extremely emotional, yet gratifying task. Sometimes I would sit alone in the room, at the end of my day, switch off the lights, breathe in the scent of fresh flowers, and I swear I could feel the presence of angels among me. This room, created by and for family members, will forever hold a special place in my heart. It was truly a memorial and a tribute to my brother John and all our unforgettable loved ones.
    Anthoula Katsimatides
    Sister of John Katsimatides

  • Edie Lutnick, Sister of Gary Lutnick

    Gary LutnickI never put up a missing flyer of Gary. I knew he was dead.

     

    I didn't want to return to the site. It was the dedication of the Family Room at One Liberty Plaza that brought me downtown for the first time, after having worked in the World Trade Center for so many years.

     

    You will not see a picture of my 36-year-old brother in the family room. It was never there. That did not stop me from going to that organically formed room of love, loss, and remembrance countless times.

     

    By sharing our family room with you we share a piece of ourselves. We share our love for those we lost. We entrust you to share in their memory.
    Edie Lutnick

    Sister of Gary Lutnick, Cantor Fitzgerald 104th Floor

  • Lynn S. McGuinn, Wife of Francis Noel McGuinn

    Francis Noel McGuinnMy visits to the room were not long, 15 minutes or so were about all I could absorb. On every visit I was always taken aback by the breadth and the depth of 9/11 as a tragedy; raw emotion and surreal reality were the norm. It became such that there was no longer room to leave a memento of remembrance for my husband, so on my visits I would sit and write a short letter to him in the journal book. I would cry in the elevator up to the Family Room, while I was in the room, and then in the elevator down to the lobby. These tears flowed without any urging, it was just what happened and I suppose will always happen when I am surrounded by and remember such personal sorrow. This room was as difficult for me to enter as it was to leave and here's the reason why. Inside the room I found neither peace nor justice and I found even less outside of the room. I would describe this room as an infinite collection and compilation of respectful grief, contained anger, exacting despair, fleeting hope and traumatic, somber reflections around unwarranted and unjustified death.
    Lynn S. McGuinn

    Wife of Francis Noel McGuinn

  • Patricia Reilly, Sister of Lorraine Mary Greene Lee

    Lorraine Mary Greene LeeThe family room was a place where we could collectively, as family members, memorialize our loved ones and express in some small way the grief we were feeling and the love we had for those we lost so senselessly on 9/11. Whenever I visited the family room, I would always go to my sister’s picture to see her beautiful face and to think about how much I miss her. While there I would make sure to also look at all the faces of the people whose pictures hung on the wall. Over time those faces became so familiar to me and I was able to connect with them by seeing the personal tributes their families left for them and hoped families visiting the room felt that same connection to my sister, Lorraine.
    Patricia Reilly

    Sister of Lorraine Mary Greene Lee

  • Alexander & Maureen Santora, Parents of Christopher A. Santora

    Family Room (detail)Al and I came to the family room often in the early days. We would look out at the site and see the "progress." What was so special about this room is that it was away from everyone. It was a quiet space filled with the faces of those who were "lost." Everyone in the room had the same pain so crying and sadness was OK because we all felt the same. We continued to come for many years. The pictures increased and each time we came we looked at different pictures. In spite of the overwhelming sadness we were comforted and felt safe in this room. Our journey to healing began here and we feel sad that the room is no more.
    Retired Deputy Chief Alexander and Maureen Santora

    Parents of FF Christopher A Santora E 54

  • Jay S. Winuk, Brother of Glenn J. Winuk

    Glenn J. WinukThe Family Room space was like no other. The moment you entered you were transported back to that time. It was a singular intersection where horrific tragedy and boundless caring and love meet. Each visit was a new experience and familiar all at once. Selectively visited, I always found it comforting to be there. Somehow, it brought me closer to Glenn, and all those lost, peaceful souls. And that is good.

    Jay S. Winuk, brother of Glenn J. Winuk, Attorney and Volunteer Firefighter/EMT, 9/11 Rescuer
    Co-founder, 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance

FEMA/Andrea Booher: FEMA News Photo

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