September 11th Memorial: 'Its About Us, All of Us'

Spike Cutolo stood just feet from the Hudson 9/11 Memorial on Wednesday in Benson's Park, a dozen years after the event that rocked New York City and changed the world. At the time the Twin Towers fell, she was working as a police detective, and as a result, became a first-responder to the terror strike.

Cutolo has a profound and indelible understanding of what was lost that day.

Too many innocent lives, of course.

But as a result of the trauma and toxic dust that filled the air on September 11, 2001, Cutolo and many of her fellow officers and firefighters continue to live in the shadow of 9/11.

Cutolo, who was the lone speaker during Hudson's brief but poignant remembrance on Wednesday, was retired from the force six years early, due to her physical fallout from it all. As she delivered her speech, she began with a secret handshake to two particular officers, who have since died – not from the immediate crashing and burning, but from the aftershocks. She didn't mention them by name, only by their absence from the world, and the grace by which she lives on, 12 years later.

Her story is a touching one, and you can read about it here in our Nashua Patch archives, from the Hudson Memorial dedication in 2011.

Then, watch the video uploaded here from Wednesday, which includes part of Cutolo's address to the crowd, and a moving rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" sung beautifully by Hudson Firefighter Mike Armand.

It was heartening to see Cutolo, who has come a long way – and lost so much – in these 12 years, just to find her way home.