OKC Bombing Remembered

I don't know where you were on April 19, 1995, when the Oklahoma City Bombing happened. I was in class in my elementary school. I didn't know until later in the day what had happened, but I remember staying home from church that night (that's how I remember it was a Wednesday) and watching the footage on TV. It really affected me. I spent months after collecting every story I could find about it. I still have the book I made of all of the newspaper articles.

I had been in Oklahoma City the August before the bombing and walked right past the federal building without paying it any mind. My dad was on the school board at my school, and every August we went to Oklahoma City for the convention. That particular year, there was a Fun Walk/Run that went right past the Murrah Building. At the time, I had no way of knowing I would be back to that place many, many times in the coming years. Every year when we went to the convention, my dad made it a point to visit the bombing site. It was weird to be there the August after the bombing and realize that I had walked by that area and never paid it any attention. I have all of these memories of all of the different stages of the site and the construction of the memorial they built on the site. Since I usually only saw it once a year, the changes were always quite drastic and noticeable. I remember the rubble with the fence around it and all the messages and all the stages between then until it got to be as it is now.

I know many people who have never been to the memorial. I can't count the number of times I've gone. I don't go every time I am in Oklahoma City, but I go most times I am there overnight. I've gone in the morning, in the afternoon, at night, in the cold, in the blazing heat. I've never left it where I was anything other than glad that I went. One of the coolest memories I have of a trip to the bombing memorial was one of the last school board conventions I went to. I was already in college but I drove up from Dallas to meet my parents. It just so happened that it was the 100th anniversary of Harley Davidson motorcycles that year and we just so happened to be there when the big motorcycle tour they were doing was in town. They had an all-bike rally (or whatever it's called...I know there was a term) and there were thousands of motorcycles in Bricktown. One of the bikers that my dad talked to happened to mention that all the bikers were going to get on their bikes after the festivities were over and ride to the memorial. It was after dark before they started getting ready to ride. My dad, my mom, and I walked over to the memorial before the ride and watched as the plaza was surrounded by all the motorcycles. It was a sight to behold. And then all the bikers piled off of the bikes and we joined them in walking around the memorial. If you ever find yourself near Oklahoma City with a bit of time to spare, I recommend that you find your way to the memorial. Here are a few of the pictures I took the last time I visited the memorial when my brother and I were in town to clean out Daddy's office at the capitol last November.