April 19, 1995

 

"We come here to remember those who were killed, those who survived and those who changed forever.  May all who leave here know the impact of violence.  May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, love and serenity."

Those are the words written on the outside of the Oklahoma City National Memorial, which I visited during my short time in the city.  While I expected to be saddened and moved at the memorial, it was so much more overwhelming than I can truly put into words.  As I was wondering around the Reflection Pool I happened upon a tour group getting a verbal explanation of the outside memorial from one of the guards.  I just sat in and listened - and cried.  It is so strange how people my age are so able to remember September 11 and feel moved by it every year when that day comes...but I feel like I never hear much about the OKC bombing.  Just because the scale was smaller does not mean the people affected were affected any less.  Just walking around the memorial fence and seeing the things people have written and placed upon it was enough to make you realize that the impact of that day on several people was enormous and will never be forgotten.  Okay...enough of my rambling, here are some pictures.

9:01a - April 19, 1995.  The minute before the bomb when off.  The east gate symbolizes the last moment the city had it's innocence.

9:03a - April 19, 1995.  The minute after the bomb went off.  The west gate is meant to symbolize the moment the city was changed forever, as well as the hope that stemmed from the horror in the hours and days following the bombing.

These two images were taken of the survivor wall, which lists the names of all of the people in the building or in the surrounded affected buildings that escaped the tragedy with their lives.  There are over 600 names inscribed here on these pieces of granite which were actually part of the original Murrah Building.

This is the Field of Empty Chairs.  There are 168 chairs here.  Each one stands for a person who was killed in the attack on the Murrah Building.  They are placed in nine rows, which are meant to stand for the nine floors of the building. 

Hopefully you can tell that the center chair here is smaller than the ones surrounding it.  This is because it is meant to stand for a child whose life was lost.  There are 19 of these smaller chairs.

The base of each chair has the deceased's name engraved on it.  At night time the bases are lit up from the inside (I was there during the day).  The chairs are never in darkness...which I thought was nice.

These five chairs on the end represent the people who were killed that were not inside of the Murrah Building. 

The next several are all of the Memorial Fence.  Initially this fence was placed around the rubble and remainder of the building.  However, so many people came to see the building and placed things along the fence to show their support, love and hope.  The design of the memorial ended up being altered to include 200 feet of the original fence.  People continue to leave things along it to this day. 

Sorry this is sideways - I cannot get it to turn around in the blog post.  There were several poems along the fence.  This was not my favorite one, but a good one all the same.  The one I found the most sad was written by a man whose daughter (pictured in the photo above this one) was killed in the blast.  It was heart breaking.

I found this butterfly resting on the fence and could not help but wonder about reincarnation and the afterlife.  There are so many gorgeous bright blue dragon flies that play all day over the Reflecting Pool...I definitely think it is possible.

Here is one of those dragon flies...

Again, sorry it is sideways.  It just talks about how children played a large role by sending in cards, letters, tiles, etc...it brought a lot of smiles and a lot of hope to the victims, their families and residents of the city in general.  Due to this fact, they have actually constructed a wall made of a sampling of tiles sent in by children.  I took some pictures of the wall and included them below.  It was a very powerful sight.

In front of the tile wall they also have these areas where children visiting the memorial can borrow some provided chalk and write messages.  They were very sweet.

This 90+ year old American Elm is called the Survivor Tree.  Despite it being so close to the blast, it still stood when all was said and done and continues to stand 15 years after the fact.  It is obviously a powerful symbol of resilience and strength.  The writing on the wall around it gives thanks for the people who came from near and far and gave service in the time following the attack.

All in all I was extremely impressed - and I did not even visit the inside of the memorial (which is a museum that my host says is extremely well done).  There are other parts that I did not explain here, but everything is very well thought out and meaningful.  If you would like to know more about the lay out and a more elaborate explanation of what certain things mean, please visit the memorial's website.

Oklahoma is OK!

That's right, I said it...

“Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe." Anatole France

This is a great quote for my drive yesterday.  Why?  Because as I was driving to Oklahoma City under a near cloudless and pale blue sky, a strange feeling came over me.  It was something that actually took me a minute to put my finger on.  Then I realized what it was...peace.  This overwhelming sense of calm and serenity that I have not felt in a long while.  It was fantastic and I hope it continues for the remainder of this journey...I certainly still feel that way right now.

The drive was fairly short and very easy.  Amazing weather and little traffic.  There was a decent amount of construction, but it did not cause me any problems.  Here are some pictures I took on the way to OKC.

This is a McDonald's that was actually built over the highway.  I took a picture of it because once when we were making the drive back from Arizona, my dad, Elijah and I stopped and ate here.  Naturally I thought it was the coolest thing ever at the time...

 

I mean seriously, thank God for this warning or I would have driven STRAIGHT into that brush fire!!

The whole resort was enormous...too bad I am not a gambling woman.  Also...Dierks Bentley - yum!

 

I found this guy at the "Oklahoma Welcome Center."  He has all kinds of groovy stuff painted on him.  Besides, it is a penguin - of course I was going to take a picture!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I arrived in OKC my host, Robert, was still at work.  He was kind enough to leave his (bad ass) loft unlocked for me, so I got cleaned up and decided to go walk around until he got home.  My destination was the OKC National Memorial, which I will write a blog about later, because it deserves it's own.  While I was walking around I just took pictures of random things that struck my fancy or caught my eye. 

The OKC Federal Building, I came across it when I was walking around downtown looking for the memorial.

This was the landscaping around the OKC Federal Building.  I liked the little stars that were scattered about everywhere. 

The guy on the right, Kelly, saw me taking pictures of things while I was walking around and asked me if he was photogenic enough to have his picture taken. =) He was very friendly and talkative - he asked me to take another one after this with his sleeves rolled up so I could see all of his tattoos.  Of course I obliged him.

I loved this...it was on a parking structure across from the memorial museum.  Very pretty.

He was just hanging around downtown.  It made me think of the song, "Home, Home on the Range."

This was the top of the "City Church."  See Jesus creeping?  I knew he was a weirdo.

Here is where I ate lunch - it is called the Beatnix Cafe.  Directly across from my host's loft.  The food took longer than necessary, so they gave me a free (giant, delicious) cookie!  In other words, I was content. =)

Robert took me to a Vietnamese place for dinner called Lee's.  It was primarily about sandwiches and ice cream.  There was this huge machine in the building that makes the baguettes.  The guy working inside of it was laughing at me taking his picture, so about 20 seconds after I took that he got his cell phone out and took one of me! 

Funny...in my opinion.

Same thing.  And no, I did not get any of said "chosen beer," I drank water out of it.

The HUGE TV I got to watch the game on - seriously, it was enormous.  (As an aside, look, Green Bay drew a penalty - imagine that!!)

Robert and I - obviously post game.  I have to hand it to the Bears...it was an exciting game.  Maybe next time Cutler throws so many interceptions our defense won't draw an equal number of penalties to cancel them all out. Hhh.

Robert to me to a bar called Brix in the part of OKC called Bricktown.  It was awesome.  They had tons of TVs set up, but we watched on the giant one above.  Instead of sitting in regular restaurant style seats, we were able to snag some amazingly comfortable leather chairs.  It was pretty much equivalent to watching it in a rich friend's home theater...you know, if I had any rich friends with home theaters. The Bears won (obviously)...but it was a super fun game to watch and I had a really great time.  Three of his friends joined us and one was kind enough to buy my drink!  I had a really nice time, even with the Pack performing so miserably.  However, I DID win my fantasy game thanks to Aaron Rodgers being a total beast...again! Sorry Whitney!

Last but not least, the couch! Thanks for everything, Robert!!

So it begins...

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Lao Tzu

Well, I am officially on the road!  My first technical destination was Indianapolis to see my beautiful friend Whitney.  It was a nice evening full of ridiculous movies (Kindergarten Cop, Bride Wars) and girl talk.  She let me stay at her place to knock two hours off of my drive to Springfield on Sunday.  Thanks, Whitney!

Sunday Morning I woke up and I took off toward Springfield, MO.  Here are a few pictures from my drive...which I deemed the drive of over sized things.

This was as I was driving into St. Louis. Welcome!!

I just liked the way this framed the sky scraper, so I took a picture! (Note: GIANT arch)

Just another shot of the arch...

This was pretty much the best I could get of the Mississippi River, I was driving on the interstate and trying not to kill anyone just to get a good picture.

This one is for my Dad - he loved it here. =) (but still, Go Cubbies!)

GIANT cross.  This went perfectly with the theme of hyper-religious billboards I saw dotted across Missouri.  Sheesh.

This is the "World's Largest Rocker!"  I considered turning around after seeing it, because I doubt I could see anything more impressive my entire trip. It was just a short distance off the interstate, so I figured I would check it out.

Can't travel the old Route 66 without getting a picture!

Once I got into Springfield - it was time to get some food and find Monica's.  I passed a little joint called the Purple Burrito and thought - what?  Naturally I stopped.  It was quite yummy, but definitely no Texano's (which I will be eating in a few short days in Tempe!!).  Then I found Monica's and waited for her to return.  For those of you unaware, Monica is my cousin on my mom's side.  Her mother and my mother are sisters.  She has lived in Missouri for most of her life and I do not get the pleasure of seeing her regularly - nor have I seen her as an "adult."  Well, let me tell you this...she is pretty fantastical.  She was sweet and intelligent (which is how I remember as a young girl) but also funny, beautiful and just so genuine.  She told me to make myself at home and she meant it.  We talked about college, House, relationships, Glee, catty and dramatic GUYS and a host of other things.  It was very nice to see her and chat.  I hope we can do it again sooner than later.

Here was my couch, which I could not for the life of me figure out how to fold down into a bed. (I think I will try and get pictures of all of the couches I sleep on along the way)

Bear with us, it is pre 8am.  At least Monica has showered, I just woke up!  Lovely lady she is, though.

Here Nevin, I black and whited the bridge photo for you.  I know how you like these type of shots. =)

That's that...off to Oklahoma City!