‘Even in the aftermath of unimaginable loss, there still can be hope’: Reeves Park marks 9/11

Local residents came together Friday evening to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, sharing memories of lost loved ones and how the community rallied to support the rescue and recovery effort at Ground Zero in the days and weeks following the attacks. 

The Sound Park Heights Civic Association held its annual candlelight walk and memorial service. A larger than usual crowd gathered for the memorial service at 9/11 Memorial Park on Sound Avenue. 

The Reeves Park community lost two residents on Sept. 11, 2001, both New York City firefighters who both died in the collapse of the World Trade Center’s south tower: Thomas Kelly, 38, and Jonathan Ielpi, 29. Family members shared memories of their loved ones and spoke of their anguish and despair after the towers came down. They also shared how they’ve learned to live with the grief that followed. 

“We remember where we were, we remember the confusion, the fear, and the disbelief,” said Anne Marie Holleran, Ielpi’s sister. “We remember the people who never came home, the families whose lives were forever changed, and the countless heroes who ran toward danger, while others were trying to escape,” she said. 

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Yet 25 years later, we are still here. We’re here to remember, we’re here to honor, and most importantly, we’re here to remind one another that even in the aftermath of the unimaginable loss, there still can be hope,” Holleran said

A symbol of that hope is the Callery Pear tree found under the rubble at Ground Zero, she said. Dubbed the 9/11 survivor tree, “the tree reminds us all of the capacity of the human spirit to persevere,” Holleran said. 

The tree’s branches were broken, it was badly scarred, but it was still alive, she said.  “Someone recognized that life. They cared for the tree, protected it, and gave it opportunities to grow again. The tree did not survive because its scar disappeared. 
It survived because someone believed there was still hope for a new life,” Holleran said. 

Saplings from that tree were distributed to various communities around the country, including Reeves Park, where two are growing at the park.

The tree “reminds us that healing does not mean forgetting. It does not mean the scars go away,” Holleran said. “
Healing means learning to carry those scars while finding the strength and hope to move forward. Today, the survivor tree stands tall. Its roots remain firmly planted, its branches reach towards the sky. 
Every year it produces new growth,” she said. “Its scars remain, but so does its life. And perhaps that is the greatest lesson the survivor tree can teach us,” Holleran said. “
Our scars can be a part of our history without becoming the end of our story.”

Kelly’s sister, Jean Marie Farrell, and his nephew, Stephen Kelly, shared their personal recollections of their lost loved one.  

Stephen, who was 16 on Sept. 11, 2001, remembers his uncle Tommy as a man who was fun to be with, who took him to Mets games and loved the beach on the Long Island Sound in Riverhead, where Emmet and Sue Kelly had a summer bungalow. 

The summer bungalow was later converted to a year-round residence where Emmet and Sue Kelly spent their last years. Farrell said the entire Kelly clan gathered there this week and early Friday morning made the same journey Tommy made when he went to work on the last day of his life. On the ride home, stuck in bad traffic, she thought about the ride home her brother never got to take on Sept. 11, 25 years ago.

“When we drove through the park, there was a sense of, we’re home,” Farrell said. “We feel like every 9/11, when we do this, we bring him home with us, in our hearts, in our soul. We bring Jonathan home with us. They didn’t get to come home that day, but they are here in spirit,” she said. “Just take a look around. Take a look around at this beautiful park, take a look around at this community, take a look at all the people who came out,” Farrell said. 

She thanked the council members who were at the service, for the town’s maintenance and care of the park, she thanked the Riverhead Fire Department members who honor the two fallen firefighters every year with their participation in the memorial ceremony, and she thanked her Reeves park friends and neighbors for their continuing support.

“I really appreciate you constantly being here, year after year. It doesn’t get easy,” Farrell said. 
”And when I got my hug from you on the beach this week, it meant more than anything. I just want you to know that, ’cause I was home, and we were together, and we’re bound in this tragedy and we share this friendship,” she said.

RiverheadLOCAL photos by Denise Civiletti