NEW YORK — After the 9/11 Memorial & Museum site was reopened to the public at 3 p.m. Saturday, a flood of people stopped by to pay their respects.
Some people told 2 On Your Side they just felt they had to be here today, and that was certainly true for some families who lost loved ones two decades ago.
For them, an important tradition returned this year. All of the names of the victims were again read out loud. That didn't happen last year with a scaled-down service due to the COVID pandemic.
For a family from Western New York, it's all about hearing those words, and remembering the person they miss so much.
Each name that is read comes with the story of a mother or father, son or daughter, and in the case of one Western New York native, a sister to eight people.
Margaret Walier Seeliger grew up in Hamburg with a big family, and nearly three dozen of them came to New York City to hear her name and to remember her smile.
How did they reflecting on it 20 years later?
"You know, you just try to get through the day," brother Paul Walier said. "We walked through the museum today, and it just brings it all back to you that day. a lot of messages from family and friends back in buffalo and throughout the country."
Paul lives in Western New York. "It was beautiful today, right?" he said.
Sister Beth Schlehr lives in Cincinnati. Other loved ones came from all over the country.
This ceremony brought them closer to Margaret.
"It's an emotional day," Beth said, "but it's, you realize that a lot of heroes that day, right?"
A lot of heroes, with Margaret among them. Her story that awful day is one of sacrifice.
"She was a hero. She died as a hero," Paul Walier said. "She gave up her spot on the elevator, making sure she had a staff, so she was making sure her staff got on before she did. She wanted to be the last one down, and she was just a real vibrant, very smart, intellectual, fun, just going to be truly missed."
Added Beth Schlehr: "You just kind of reflect, and, I'm just very proud of her. I mean, she saved a lot of lives."
And while this day comes with so much sadness, there are also tears from laughter. You get a big family together, and that's inevitable.
They were celebrating the good times, because they say that's what Margaret would have wanted.
"It's just a huge support system," Beth said, "and we all get along, and we're going to have fun, and we're just going to go in there and have a toast, many toasts, and we're going to drink to Margaret, and we're going to tell some stories."
Stories of a life well lived, among the thousands shared in New York City on Saturday.
The memorial site will be open until midnight, and officials expected quite a few people here all the way until then.
Later Saturday came the Tribute In Light, one final reminder of the significance of this day, especially 20 years later.