We had a really nice time, and the drives up and back were uneventful... besides some serious wind gusts and traffic on the way there.
The Oklahoma City bombing was one of the first national tragedies I was aware of as a kid. Can you believe it's been 16 years since then?
I wanted to see the memorial, which we did -- and by coincidence it happens to be the anniversary tomorrow (April 19th).
There are two large gates on either side of a big reflection pool. One represents 9:01 and the other 9:03 AM.
The bombing took place at 9:02 AM and is represented by the large reflection pool as well as a field of empty chairs.
There are 168 empty chairs, and each one has the name of a victim at the base of it. There are smaller chairs for the children who died - I wasn't aware that there was a daycare in the building. I wish we could have seen the chairs at night, because each one is illuminated from the base.
The whole memorial is so well done - striking and sad, but also peaceful and somehow hopeful.
I remember seeing pictures of this chain link fence wall on the news as a 10-year-old. They left part of it as a memorial, and people continue to leave tokens of remembrance, though my understanding is that after a while the tokens are removed and stored in the museum's archives.
"We come here to remember those who were killed, those who survived, and those forever. May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope, and serenity."
After the memorial we went to this nice park and walked around. Very peaceful. Beautiful weather.
Hope you enjoyed your weekend, too!
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