Today is the 21st “anniversary” of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City. Anniversary–that makes it sound like a celebration. It isn’t.
168 people, including 19 children, were murdered by a terrorist there on April 19th, 1995.
I have tried but cannot write much on this topic. Rage and grief fills my soul when I try. Maybe one day that will stop and I will be able to express more of my thoughts and feelings from that day and the days that followed. I pray that day comes. For now I choose to ignore that rage and grief, and instead focus on giving my thanks to God every single day that by His grace, I got to witness Conservahontas grow into a beautiful and successful woman. The mothers of so many did not have that blessing.
If you haven’t been to the museum and memorial for the victims, I encourage you to do so if you ever have the opportunity. It is beautifully done. There are personal touches from start to finish that survivors donated. The museum was built around items left just as they were found in the aftermath. Whole sections of offices–desks, filing cabinets, etc–and parts of the building were preserved in place, and surrounded by glass. The museum and memorial are privately owned, operated, and maintained by a non-profit group and receives no federal, state, or local tax money.
This is the view at night of the Field of Empty Chairs. Each chair represents someone who died that day and the row each chair is in represents on which floor each person died.
