In a peaceful park, hundreds reflect on 9/11's horrors

Grace Godshalk still awakens before dawn, thinking of the son she lost when the screaming jets hit.

Young widow Debbi Senko has remarried and given birth to a baby girl - a sister for her 8-year-old boy, whose father perished when the twin towers fell.

Karen Cooney, shaken by her son's narrow escape from the World Trade Center, has relocated from Staten Island to Bucks County.

Seven years later, each is in a different stage of coming to terms with the horrors of Sept. 11, 2001. Yet each felt drawn yesterday to the peaceful, verdant Garden of Reflection memorial in Lower Makefield Township, where about 300 people gathered to mark the anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

"Even today, after this passage of time, there are not cogent answers as to why so many died in such a cruel manner," Rabbi Stewart Pollack said in the concluding prayer of the interfaith service. "This Garden of Reflection is symbolic of our determination never to forget."

Dedicated in 2006, the Garden is Pennsylvania's official state memorial to the victims of 9/11 - and the result of years of work and fund-raising by survivors and other volunteers.

"What we had hoped would be portrayed by the Garden is that after darkness there is light," said Ellen Saracini, whose husband, Victor, was captain of United Flight 175, the plane that struck the second tower.

"After seven years, there's still a lot of darkness in everybody's hearts around the nation. We are here to honor that. The light comes not just from having such a beautiful place to come to, but from having the community here with the family members."

More than 50 of the 2,973 victims of the attacks were from the Philadelphia region. Eighteen of those were from Bucks, making it the hardest-hit county in Pennsylvania.

The sprawling grounds along Woodside Road are filled with symbolism. There is a line of young maple trees, one for each Bucks victim. Forty-two walkway lights, one for each Pennsylvania child who lost a parent. A tear-shaped entry court dominated by twisted beams from the fallen towers. A circular walk with the names of every 9/11 victim etched alphabetically alongside. A shallow pool fed by soaring, twin fountains - the spirits of the departed.

"It's a place to renew life, and the whole place has a lot of spirit around it. The flowing water symbolizes life," said Godshalk, of Lower Makefield, whose son, Bill, died in the South Tower. "We've had a wonderful outpouring of love today from the community. I just met someone who told me, 'I never get up this early, but I'm here today.' "

Yesterday's observance was less about speeches than about quiet reflection and conversation.

Single bell tolls sounded at 8:46 a.m., 9:03 a.m., 9:37 a.m., and 10:03 a.m. - the times of each plane crash - each followed by prayer given by a member of the area clergy.

At 9:11 a.m., an American flag that had been flown over each crash site was raised, then lowered to half-staff.

At 9:20, Godshalk and other survivors read the names of the Bucks County victims. At 9:47 a.m., a wreath was placed before the rusted remnants of the trade center.

In between was silence and muffled talk - a day of beauty and serenity born of hatred and violence.

"I will never, ever, ever get over it," Godshalk said, "but I work through it each day."

Strolling nearby were Joel Davne and his daughter, Aliya, a fifth grader at nearby Quarry Hill Elementary School.

Aliya, 3 at the time of 9/11, has no memory of it. "I know about it now," she said, "but I sometimes ask about what really happened."

Among her schoolmates is third grader Tyler Senko, who was 1 when his father, Larry, died in the twin towers. His mother, Debbi, of Lower Makefield, recently remarried and had her baby girl.

"We decided to move forward in life, and this is where we ended up," she said, watching the curly-haired boy with his father's eyes play in the grass nearby.

"I'm glad that we chose to live, because the other choice is not a good one," she said. "A lot of lessons came out of that day, and if you lose sight of that, it's all in vain. You remember the evil, but also the humanity and the coming together. When I come here, that's the part I focus on."

Karen Cooney's son, Sean, was among those who escaped the trade center after the attacks. But she lost many acquaintances that day, Cooney said, which contributed to her move to Southampton, Bucks County.

"I was going to go back to New York City to remember," she said, "but this is such a beautiful park. It has a lot of meaning, a lot of emotion. Yet it is extremely serene."