Business Trip With Dad

 A few weeks ago my dad had a day business trip in Edmund, Oklahoma so the whole family decided to go along with him.  I am so glad we did because we had a very enjoyable day.  We had Chick-Fil-A for lunch and then headed to downtown to see the Oklahoma City bombing memorial.  I was younger when it happened and do not have very many memories of it, but I am so thankful I had the opportunity to go to the memorial.  There is a hush about the memorial that you only feel in such places. 

 Across the street from the memorial is this statue of Jesus.  Where it stands is where a church once stood that was destroyed in the bombing.  The story behind the statue is that when the bombing happened it was such a horrible thing that Jesus had to turn away from it and and wept.  While this is not an accurate picture ("For God shall never leave you nor forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6) the statue is very moving.

 

 At the base of the statue is inscribed "And Jesus Wept." 

 This is the entrance to the memorial from where the Jesus statue stands.  Inscribed above the entrance are the words,  "We come here to remember those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever.  May all who live here know the impact of violence.  May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity."  

 When we crossed the street, on either side of the entrance were chain link fences in which people had placed pictures and mementos of those who had died.  It was so sad, it was not unusual to see a picture of a child, a child's toy or a mother or father who had died in a picture with their families.  As you looked at all of the pieces that had once been a part of a persons life, someone like you and me, the people who died were no longer just a number in statistics, they were real people who's lives had ended abruptly in an act of cruel violence.  They had faces and lives.  While I had always known this, seeing all of these pieces that had once been part of their lives, you felt like you knew a little about them and you now shared in their loss.  It made you cry.

 Once you enter inside you see numbers inscribed on the other entrance.  It is the time one minute before the bombing happened, and on the other entrance is the time one minute after the bombing was over.  In between the entrances was this reflection pond.  If you look closely you can see the water is slowly flowing towards the time the bombing was over.  It represents the short amount of time in which the bombing took place and lives were changed forever.

 To the left you can see a building that was damaged by the bombing but still remains standing.

 To the right are these chairs.  There is a chair for every person who lost their lives that day.  There are larger ones for the adults who died and little ones for the children who lost their lives.  It was so sad to see those little chairs mixed in among the larger ones.

 Here you can see where only a portion of a building remains. 

 Here is a piece of a wall where a building once stood.

 Here you can see the survivor elm.  It somehow survived the bombing and has since become an emblem of hope.

 Here in the next few pictures are maps of what the area was before and what it is now.  It gives you a more clear picture of how everything is placed.

 Right after the bombing the firemen from Team 5 spray painted this on one of the walls and it is still there.

 The Survivor Elm

I am so thankful I had the opportunity to visit the memorial.  It was so sad though to see all of the devastation, it is hard to understand how a person could do such a thing.

 After visiting the memorial we went shopping for awhile and then came back to pick up my dad.  When we arrived we found this adorable little kitten and well..... lets just say we did not leave anytime soon after we met sweet little Max!

 Here I am with Max, he was sooooooooooo cute!!!!

We had so much fun playing with him, as can be evidenced in the video below, but, I mean, who DOESN'T love a fun, playful, loveable little kitten!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful week and hopefully I can get up a post about my students piano recital later this week!  Also, I have a really big surprise coming soon, I can't wait to share it with all of you and I hope you will be excited about it too!  I have been wanting to do this project, or something like it, for some time now and  I am really excited about it finally becoming a reality!
Have a blessed week,
Michelle