Recovered $2 Bill Symbol of Marriage

Today, a white rose was placed at the 9/11 Memorial in honor of Robert Gschaar’s birthday. He would have been 70 years old. The following is an excerpt from an essay included in The Stories They Tell relating to a donation that Gschaar’s wife Myrta made in his memory that is now on view at the 9/11 Memorial Museum.

Excerpt from The Stories They Tell: Robert Gschaar’s Property, Recovered MemoriesAt police headquarters, [Myrta] was taken to a private room and given an envelope bearing Robert’s wedding ring and wallet, which still gave off the acrid smell of Ground Zero. From inside, along with an ID card and transit passes, she pulled a $2 bill. Myrta was overwhelmed. “I couldn’t even talk,” she said. “They couldn’t understand why I was so emotional over a $2 bill and not his wedding band.”

When Robert proposed to Myrta in 1988, he had given her two such bills. The denomination of the bill was a reminder that, for each of them, this was a second marriage, a second chance at love. They had made the most of that second chance. Robert had helped raise Myrta’s four daughters, and they became doting grandparents together. His job at Aon had ended four years of part-time work; he had only been with the company two weeks when he died. The Gschaars had even begun planning for their first trip in years, thinking about a cruise to Alaska.

Myrta thought of the $2 bill as her engagement ring, and they each carried one with them. Four years after 9/11, with Robert’s bill in her hand, Myrta said that her heart “opened up to see a new truth.” Robert Gschaar was gone.

Myrta took Robert’s things home with her, but over time they no longer felt the same. Once the living symbol of marriage, they were now symbols of a crime. The loss of her beloved husband spoke clearly to her of the many losses of that day; Robert was now bound to them as much as to Myrta. She decided to donate Robert’s wedding ring, wallet, and the $2 bill to the 9/11 Museum. She said, “When I look at everyone’s recovered property, I mourn and grieve with all the families. I see them all together, all attached. All parts that come together to tell the story of 9/11 and terrorism.”

Her donation included one additional item: the $2 bill from her own wallet.

 By Jenny Pachucki, 9/11 Memorial Content Strategist

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