story8011.xml
Title
story8011.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-19
911DA Story: Story
It is a day I will never forget. It shocked me, it maddened me, it saddened me. I never felt so much compassion for people and families I didn't know. As a volunteer victim advocate and crisis team member for Adam's County Crisis Response Team I began to try to prepare myself to be called upon for assistance, however this was a situation that no one could ever prepare for.
Our crisis team was called to respond December 29 to Ground Zero to provide crisis intervention and support to those workers involved in the clean up and recovery effort. I walked into a world of pain and despair. I truly thought my efforts would be meaningless to those who endured what no person should ever endure in one?s lifetime. However, my goal was to just listen, and to make sure the workers at Ground Zero knew that I was there to just listen. I heard stories from the workers that were heartbreaking and stories that were funny. Each worker had something to say and just wanted to be heard.
As I talked to each worker, the sharing of personal experiences on 9/11 or thereafter would surface and a moment of silence would follow. I would pray to myself that there was some sort of relief for that individual to have shared something so personal with a stranger. It was extremely hard to walk away from those workers at ?Ground Zero? who were not as receptive to my services, but I respected them for that. Not all were ready to talk, but to hear at least one worker tell his or her story and for them to have someone listen to it was all that mattered each day. From this I have learned, that listening is the most valuable tool and I will carry that with me forever.
I will never be able to forget the pain that all American's endured on September 11, 2002.
Our crisis team was called to respond December 29 to Ground Zero to provide crisis intervention and support to those workers involved in the clean up and recovery effort. I walked into a world of pain and despair. I truly thought my efforts would be meaningless to those who endured what no person should ever endure in one?s lifetime. However, my goal was to just listen, and to make sure the workers at Ground Zero knew that I was there to just listen. I heard stories from the workers that were heartbreaking and stories that were funny. Each worker had something to say and just wanted to be heard.
As I talked to each worker, the sharing of personal experiences on 9/11 or thereafter would surface and a moment of silence would follow. I would pray to myself that there was some sort of relief for that individual to have shared something so personal with a stranger. It was extremely hard to walk away from those workers at ?Ground Zero? who were not as receptive to my services, but I respected them for that. Not all were ready to talk, but to hear at least one worker tell his or her story and for them to have someone listen to it was all that mattered each day. From this I have learned, that listening is the most valuable tool and I will carry that with me forever.
I will never be able to forget the pain that all American's endured on September 11, 2002.
Collection
Citation
“story8011.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 9, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/3940.