My parents came to visit in the spring of 2001 and we met up with my uncle who lives in Philadelphia to give us the tour of NYC. We got our picture taken on the top of the WTC for the same reasons we got our picture taken in front of other landmarks or tourist attractions… just to show that we were there and to remind ourselves later in life of the experience.
As I recall, our impressions of the WTC were of general awe… the buildings were huge enough to border on incredible… literally almost too big to be believed (especially after growing up in small town Alaska).
My sympathies remain with the families of those who lost their lives just a few months after this picture was taken.