This was a club to which nobody would want to belong - the families of those killed on Sept. 11, 2001. With press and politicians looking on, 13 years to the day and hour after the World Trade Center attack, they filled the plaza next to the memorial pools where the Twin Towers once stood. Police officers brought out folding chairs for the elderly and set them up under the oak trees, planted just a few years ago. The trees are getting tall. Some are over 20 feet by now. Some are bearing acorns.

The morning was chilly, with an overcast sky. The piercing sound of bagpipes resounded over the plaza.

Waiting for the ceremony to begin. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

As they waited for the ceremony to begin, the family members stood in small groups. Some chatted with each other. Some waited silently. A few children, too young to have known anyone commemorated here, amused themselves as best they could, playing with the stones in the pits that ringed the oak trees.

By 8:32 a.m., the plaza was almost full. Though nearly 3,000 people were killed on 9/11, each of those deaths affected many other people. Tens of thousands of people had their lives permanently shadowed or ruined.

Officers from the NYPD, the Fire Department and the Port Authority carrying an an American flag past one of the reflecting pools at the beginning of the memorial observance. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images/POOL)

At 8:38 a.m., helicopters rumbled overhead. Then the bagpipers played again, as officers from the police and fire departments and the Port Authority solemnly marched onto the plaza, holding a large U.S. flag. The crowd grew silent as a woman sang the National Anthem. At precisely 8:46 a.m., when the first plane rammed into the North Tower, an officer struck a silver bell. The silence that followed was heavy with grief.

The reading of the names began. It takes around three hours to read the names of everyone killed at the World Trade Center, at the Pentagon and on Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pa. The name readers came from the families of the dead - old and young, of many ethnicities and nationalities.

Each pair of readers slowly enunciated each name until they came to the end of their allotment, when they said a few words about the relative they had lost. "My brother-in-law." "My father, who I never met." "My husband." "My wife." "My niece." "My uncle Michael Taddonio. We love you and miss you every day." "My father. Dad, even though you're not on this Earth anymore, I know you're looking down." "My husband of 30 years." "My only child, my beloved daughter." "My stepson." "My brother. Your daughter, born after your death is tall. She looks like you."

One woman said, "Rest peacefully, baby. May the four winds blow you safely home."

As the names were read, the bell was rung six times, marking the moments when the planes hit the towers, when they collapsed, when the plane struck the Pentagon and the crash of Flight 93. Each sounding of the bell was followed by a minute of silence.

That night, many people returned to the plaza to see the Tribute in Lights soaring into the sky above the Memorial pools. The bronze plaques surrounding the Memorial pools were covered with mementos - flowers, American flags and photos of the dead.

The night air was heavy and humid. Then, around 10 p.m. a sharp and sudden breeze sprang up. It whipped violently through the oak trees.

After a day of prayers and invocations, it seemed as though the dead had spoken.

Downtown bulletin board

Deadline near to enroll in Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund: If you were diagnosed with a 9/11-related eligible cancer before Oct. 12, 2012, you may be entitled to compensation from the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. Registration preserves your right to file a claim in the future (before the VCF ends on Oct. 3, 2016). Registration is not the same as filing a claim and you are not required to file a claim even if you have registered. Register online at vcf.gov by Oct. 12, 2014. For more information click here or call VCF's toll-free helpline at (855)-885-1555 (or 855-885-1558 for the hearing impaired).

Plans are under way for the 13th Annual Battery Park City Block Party, which will be held on Sat., Sept. 27 from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the esplanade just south of North Cove Marina. As usual, there will be vendors, food, a talent show and games for kids.

Vendors can rent tables at the block party for $25. To reserve a table, email [email protected].

Talent at all levels is welcome for the talent show. To participate, email Vicki Winters at [email protected]. Volunteers to set up and break down the Block Party and to keep it working smoothly are needed. Contact Tammy Meltzer at [email protected] to find out more and to volunteer. Bob Townley, executive director of Manhattan Youth, is coordinating the children's rides and activities. He is looking for an assistant who could become the supervisor next year. For more information, email [email protected]/

Electronics recycling: Unclutter your home by bringing your unwanted electronics to the block party. The following working and non-working items will be accepted: computers, monitors, printers, scanners, keyboards, mice, cables, TVs, VCRs, DVD players, phones, audio/visual equipment, video games, cell phones and PDAs. For more information, click here or call (212) 477-4022.

Ali Osborn, resident printer at Bowne Printers, part of the South Street Seaport Museum, watching Marisa Ohara create a print from a linoleum block at a block printing workshop. The next workshop will be on Sunday, Sept. 14. For tickets, click here. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)