Survivor Tree

[laughs]

... and our friend Ron will talk about a special tree, the survivor tree-

Mm

... which is a descendant of a tree that was nearly killed on September 11th from the original World Trade Center.

You know, he came in not that long after the Orlando shooting, which I mention in our episode with Ron.

Yes.

And so the ch- the survivor tree was all decorated, and he w- and he and his partner were just, like, so teary-eyed, and I was like, "I'm sorry." [chuckles] Like, that's how we started.

[laughs]

But among those oaks is a single-calorie pear tree.

The survivor tree.

The survivor tree.

It was discovered in the smoldering wreckage in October 2001, severely burned, literally reduced to a stump with just a few living branches.

And the journey of that specific tree really mirrors the overarching narrative of recovery.

It stands today as the single living organism on those 16 acres that was physically present on the morning of the attack.

Which is just incredible to think about.

And seedlings from the survivor tree are now shared with other communities facing their own catastrophic traumas.

All week, visitors to the memorial in Ground Zero have been leaving flowers, flags and photos for the nearly 3,000 people who were killed in the attacks.

Beside the site where the South Tower once stood now stands the Survivor Tree, a tree removed from the rubble in the days following the attack which now serves as a symbol of hope.

A fence surrounding the tree is full of notes from visitors thanking those who died while trying to save others on the 11th of September 2001.

Nick Ariyama is one of those leaving a message for the fallen.

And it'll be some 9-11 family member speakers and several of our allies will be speaking, including Kathy Kelly, who helped... found our group whether she realizes that or not and then we were gonna we will be walking from union square park to ground zero with uh with some with escorts so that traffic can be blocked and it'll be a safe walk to ground zero that walk will happen from six to seven pm on the evening of the 10th and then at ground zero we will have a commemorative vigil honoring those lives that we lost at Ground Zero.

We'll have LED candles and we'll gather around the survivor tree about 7.15, 7.30 to honor the dead and think about their memory and what they meant to all of us and what that day meant to all of us.

What sustains you these days, Colleen? What keeps you going?

Well, I just wrote a note to my family a few days ago thinking about this, like what sustains me.

So I talk about my cancer and the administration and the funds there.

We go to the survivor tree, the one tree that's still alive that made it from the original site to this site, the only thing.

That's still alive to go through to both incarnations.

And then that's when we go to the South tower and the North tower.