September 11. Memories of that fateful day when horrific terrorist attacks forever changed the lives of thousands of people reverberate still in global consciousness. The 9/11 Memorial in Manhattan was one of the sites that I made an effort to visit soon after arriving in New York City. Gazing into the Memorial for the first time was deeply moving for me – twin waterfall pools defining the absence of the towers, water cascading tearfully into a seemingly infinite abyss. 2983 names are etched into the bronze parapets edging the pools. 400 swamp white oak trees grow in the surrounding plaza, designating an oasis of tranquility amid the city’s noise and bustle.1
On another visit, I was brought to the foot of the “Survivor Tree” where, for the first time, I heard the story of how a single Callery pear tree was discovered amid the Ground Zero rubble weeks after 9/11, its roots snapped and its branches charred and damaged. Perceiving signs of life, rescuers pulled out the broken tree and placed it in the care of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Nursed back to health, it grew from 8 to 30 feet and, in 2010, it was brought back to the 9/11 Memorial site where it continues to thrive and inspire passersby – numbering in the millions on an annual basis.2
I have since learned, too, of a seedling program that was launched in 2013. Every year, three seedlings from the Survivor Tree are gifted to communities around the world that have endured tragedies. One of these, for example, was given to France in 2016, in remembrance of the hundreds of people killed or injured in the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris and the July 2016 Bastille Day attacks in Nice. In 2020, another was given to Christchurch, New Zealand, in memory of the mass shooting which killed 51 people the year before. Last year, one of the seedlings was gifted to the Ukraine.3
1 National September 11 Memorial and Museum. “About the Memorial.” 9/11 Memorial and Museum, https://www.911memorial.org/visit/memorial/about-memorial. Accessed 9 September 2023.
2 Ibid.
3 National September 11 Memorial and Museum. “Survivor Tree Seedling Program.” 9/11 Memorial and Museum, https://www.911memorial.org/visit/memorial/survivor-tree/survivor-tree-seedling-program. Accessed 9 September 2023.
Claudia Stecker is a Sister of Our Lady of the Missions (RNDM). She was missioned to the Philippines in 1997 and worked as an educator, first, in Cotabato, at Notre Dame University, and, later, in Manila, at Asian Social Institute. Her subject areas included pastoral sociology, leadership, music and education. Claudia was also employed by Kuya Center for Street Children where she took part in establishing a microfinance initiative among urban poor families. Over the years, Claudia served the congregation, too, in leadership, formation and finance management, returning to Canada in 2021. From 2023, she has been missioned to New York, USA, where she serves as a host community member in a LifeWay Network safehouse for women survivors of human trafficking.
Thanks Claudia. I remember exactly what I was doing the morning I heard about the attack in New York. Shortly after I tried to absorb the “un-absorbable” I phoned home; I needed to hear my mom’s voice! I seemed to need familiarity, normalcy and assurance; but also I needed resiliency, a gift my mother manifested often enough to me in her life time. The resiliency of the Callery pear tree is very moving, as is the commitment to share its shoots with communities around the world.
What a moving account, Claudia, thank you. I had not heard the story of the Callery pear tree; what a powerful and inspirational action taken by the rescuers. Such attentiveness in the face of such horrific tragedy touches me deeply.
Claudia, Yours is a deeply moving account. Though I have been to Ground Zero, I had not noticed the Callery Tree. Thank you!
I had not previously heard of the “survivor tree” at the 9/11 memorial site. Thank you for bringing to us the story and “mission” of this “single Callery pear tree” that survived the destruction, and now generates new life.
Claudia, thank you so much for sharing this story. It is such an interesting and important addition to the accounts of 9/11, and yet I have never heard about this. As a teenager, in June, 1971, I visited New York City with my grandmother who needed a companion on this trip to see her sister. The twin towers were just being completed and my cousin told me he didn’t think they were a good thing for the city. He didn’t explain why, but I sensed that he had an ominous feeling about them. He wasn’t alive to know about 9/11 but I’ve often thought about his comment and wondered what he would have said after that date. Now, I also wonder what he’d say about this Callery pear tree and her story of strength and generosity.