See more photos from the Healing Field Memorial in a slideshow.
On Sept. 11, 2001, Ellie Lobel was 10 minutes late for work. Those 10 minutes saved her life.Lobel worked as a contract database engineer at the World Trade Center and was raising her niece at the time.
“(My niece’s) only chore was to take out the garbage,” Lobel said. “She forgot to do it the night before.”
Lobel recounted her story near the more than 2,900 flags flown at Tempe Beach Park on Sunday for the city’s eighth annual Healing Fields memorial to commemorate the victims of Sept. 11.
Lobel said she stayed behind to bring the garbage cans to the street, adding 10 minutes to her commute to work.
“I’ve never been late for anything in my life. I’m always the 10 to 15 minutes early girl,” she said. “(But) something kept pressing on my heart, you have to stop.”
Lobel stayed in New York for three days to help with the rescue effort. She stayed two more days handing out food and connecting with friends and family.
“I just went numb after that,” Lobel said. “I walked away from everything after that. I walked away from my career.”
Lobel went to work in a car dealership in California. She wanted to be somewhere safe, she said.
Lobel has not been back to ground zero. Last year was the first time she left her house on Sept. 11.
“I would never go to work … (and) not sleep all night,” she said.
The Healing Field event is like a final resting place, Lobel said.
A sign was attached to each flag displaying the victim’s name, where they died and a brief biography.
One flag represented Robert Adrien Jalbert, who died on United Airlines Flight 175. Jalbert was a wine enthusiast and spoke French fluently. Another was for Patrick O’Keefe, a fire fighter and first responder.
Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman addressed a crowd at Tempe Beach Park at around 6 a.m. — just after the time American Airlines Flight 11 struck the World Trade Center tower in New York City 10 years ago.
“We feel sadness for those who are lost but we also feel honor and determination and hope for the future,” Hallman said.
As Hallman spoke, commercial jetliners on a final descent to Phoenix Sky Harbor airport flew above.
“We often curse that sound of aircrafts as we’re having an event here but on a morning like this I think of that in some ways as the sound of freedom,” he said.
Hallman said everyone in attendance had gathered together to share in the living dream of a country made of the people, by the people and for the people.
“Those who threaten the freedoms must understand that we are willing to die for that commitment which is no mere ideal but is as real as those of us standing here today,” he said.
There is a shared task that is two-fold, Hallman said. The first is that we must not forget, he said.
“For those we love never die in vain,” Hallman said. “Second, we must dedicate ourselves to the hopeful work of illuminating an even brighter future.”
Assistant Police Chief for the city of Tempe John Rush spoke next about his experiences on Sept. 11.
Rush’s sister was missing in New York City.
“I was in shock and in disbelief on so many levels,” he said.
His sister was not from New York. She had decided to take a last minute business trip with her fiancé. They stayed in the Marriot World Trade Center hotel near the towers.
“After seemingly an eternity, the phone call came from my sister,” Rush said. “She was OK.”
Rush said the one thought that gave him comfort was that there would be police officers and fire fighters in New York City to help his sister.
“The city was held together on faith, hope and charity,” Rush said.
Glendale resident Joseph Dees, 37, helped set up the Healing Fields flags and attended the memorial on Sunday.
Dees said he was getting ready for work just like every other day on Sept. 11, 2001 when he heard the news.
The events of Sept. 11 feel more heartfelt today and have had time to sink-in, Dees said.
“In one aspect I’m glad that it brought America closer together but in the other aspect, it’s terrible that it has to take a tragedy for something like that to occur,” he said.
Tempe resident Nellice Reidhead, 71, also attended the Healing Fields memorial on Sunday.
Reidhead said she was in the kitchen watching television that Tuesday 10 years ago.
Since that day, the country has come together, Reidhead said.
“It’s made me more patriotic and more grateful for the country, grateful for our freedom,” she said.
Tempe resident Barbara Robinson, 77, accompanied Reidhead at the Healing Fields memorial.
Robinson said she was having blood drawn the day of the attacks.
“I think that (Sept. 11) has made us aware that we’re not invincible, that we do have to do something to protect our freedoms,” Robinson said.
Reach the reporter ryan.mccullough@asu.edu
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