I was in New York yesterday for a business meeting, and drove past ground zero for the first time.

It’s a construction site now, surrounded by fencing. But mostly, it’s still a big hole in the ground.

Nevertheless, passing by, even in a cab on the West Side Highway, was a breathtaking experience.

Jim: This is going to sound like a contradictory statement, but here goes: “Marshall, you’ve got to see Ground Zero up close. The emotional upheaval makes it a must-see.”

I think people will get what I’m trying to say. I went on, oh, Memorial Day 2002, I believe. There were a bunch of terror alerts for New York City that weekend; the Mrs. and I decided to hit every potential target in a mix of defiance and skepticism over the warnings - the observation deck of the Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, a Mets game (Yanks were out of town), the subways, Times Square, the whole nine yards. Can’t live in fear, you know?

Anyway, we went to Ground Zero. The cleanup was finished; it just looked like a massive construction site. The cross was still in place. I have a feeling that a long time from now, long after we’ve left the scene, that spot in lower Manhattan is still going to attract visitors, mourners, people who know they have a duty to remember what happened there, and its massive, reverberating effect throughout the world, akin to Washington’s Crossing, Gettysburg, Pearl Harbor, or Omaha Beach.