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Families Remember 9/11 Victims At N.J. Memorial Garden

MIDDLETOWN, N.J. (CBS 2) -- They left on a train and never came home. Middletown lost 37 residents on September 11. Their faces were etched on granite stones behind the station in a memorial garden where, CBS 2's Christine Sloan reports, family members leave behind mementos.

"Everybody will be thinking about them, you know, over the next couple days," one man said.

"And it's, it was just a horrific thing and we have to remember these people," another resident said.

Remember them they have throughout the years, with a moment of silence and a reading of the names.

For family members, this is one place they can come to feel close. Middletown's mayor said many family members have moved and for those he still sees the pain never goes away, especially for children who lost a parent.

"The loss magnifies because it's another milestone that's missed in these folks live so it's really difficult," said Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger.

On the stones are smiling faces, little sayings about who they were in life, and a walkway that makes many pause and think so they never forget.

To Laurie Tietjen, who lost her Port Authority cop brother on 9/11, the garden has been comforting. "I think it's beautiful, you know? We're at the point where we want to celebrate his life and this, this does that for us.  It's a beautiful place to come.  This picture captures his personality and that smile was constant for him."

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