One of my regular running routes down the shore takes me past the simply beautiful September 11 Memorial that Spring Lake constructed on Ocean Avenue, which celebrates and honors its nine residents who were murdered on that terrible Tuesday morning nineteen years ago. The Memorial includes a plaque containing the names of all nine victims and where they were killed.
Spring Lake September 11 Memorial Plaque
Photo Credit - Adam Kenny
I run at sunrise, which has any number of advantages (including but not limited to the number of humans with whom I am required to interact while on my run). One of the greatest things about running in that area early in the morning is the way the Memorial looks at sunrise.
View of Spring Lake September 11 Memorial looking east
Photo Credit - Adam Kenny
It never fails to remind me the importance of being able to distinguish between doing those things that must be done and doing those things that are worth doing. It is the difference between merely being alive and actually living your life.
Donald Arthur Peterson and Jean Hoadley Peterson lived in Spring Lake, New Jersey. He was sixty-six, retired from his career as President of Continental Electric Company. She was fifty-five, retired from her career as a registered nurse and a nursing instructor. In retirement, each spent considerable time assisting others in their community and beyond. He counseled men struggling with alcohol and drug dependency. She counseled women in crisis pregnancies.
They married in 1984. Each had three children from a previous marriage. On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, they arrived at Newark Airport for their cross-country flight to California. Their destination? Yosemite National Park where they were planning to vacation with Jean's brother and her parents. Tragically, they arrived at the airport early enough to be offered the opportunity to fly west on a flight that left earlier than their scheduled flight. The earlier flight onto which they switched their reservations was United Airlines Flight 93.
Donald Arthur Peterson and Jean Hoadley Peterson are the only two Spring Lake residents memorialized on the Spring Lake September 11 Memorial killed on that terrible day who did not die at the World Trade Center. Their names are among the one hundred and forty-seven Monmouth County residents killed on September 11, 2001, whose names are read aloud during the annual 9/11 Memorial Run in Belmar, New Jersey.
View of Spring Lake September 11 Memorial looking west
Photo Credit - Adam Kenny
-AK
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