We were diligently cleaning thin layers of gray dust from every corner and crevice of an apartment in lower Manhattan when we were called to the window by the owner. As we looked down at the still hulking pile of metal, concrete, paper, and dust that used to be the World Trade Center, we saw a line of firemen, police officers, construction workers, and others forming from the left side, toward the middle of the site. It was mid-November 2001.
The apartment owner walked us through what we were witnessing. Remains of someone had been found somewhere in the rubble. When that happened, all work stopped and those working the site formed two columns from the location where remains were found to a waiting rescue vehicle on the street. Hats were removed, hands placed on hearts or heads bowed, and the remains were slowly processed out of the destruction.
In facing unimaginable grief, pain, anger, and sorrow working that pile day in and day out, this was a display of humanity for this group of people whose job it was to scour through the inhumane. With each person’s remains, they showed respect and compassion. Every person suffering that horrific event was treated with the utmost dignity.
We were told this event could happen many times during a given day. Each time, work stopped, the lines formed, and remains were transitioned from the horrific tomb of the wreckage down a pathway toward final rest. The search was their task, honoring the people was their mission.
It is hard to imagine bringing light and hope into such a dark and hopeless place. Yet those working the World Trade Center site knew its necessity. Even in the midst of the most dreadful of human pain and suffering, there is opportunity, indeed an obligation, to bring the best of humanity.