There is a rose garden at the home of Thomas and Carol O’Neill, on Long Island, that was planted as a memorial to those who were lost on Sept. 11, 2001 – specifically those who perished at the offices of Sandler, O’Neill & Partners, LLP on the 104th floor of Two World Trade Center. There is a sculpture and fountain with a tablet inscribed as follows:
I give you this one thought to keep.
I am with you still, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the Diamond glint on snow
I am sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle Autumn rain.
When you awake in morning’s hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet bird in circled flight.
I am soft stars that shine at night.
Do not think of me as gone.
I am with you still, in each new dawn.
The rose gives us strength of spirit and as we experience our own rose gardens through the season of life. The rose lifts our spirits in our darkest hours, the rose extends her beauty and solace to us in spring and once again reminds us that we must keep this beauty in our hearts as a symbol of hope for the future.
God bless,
Carol Newcomb, President
Cliff Winger, President-elect
Erin Alonso