This past weekend we went to Enid, Oklahoma so I could meet some of Mark's friends from his Academy days. It was a lot of fun hanging out with Brian and Melanie W. They are so much fun!On the way up to Enid, we decided to swing through Oklahoma City and enjoy the sights there. One of these sights is the Oklahoma City National Memorial. It was a very nice experience. I was pretty young, but I remember the day the Murrah Building was bombed by an American Terrorist who was upset with impertinent things in the Government. The building was full of offices and had a day care by the main entrance (where the bomb was in a car outside).
Walking up to the memorial, there is a gate where loved ones and coworkers could attach memorabilia to the outside as someone would put flowers on a grave site. There were ID cards, pictures, key chains, teddy bears, children's shoes, shirts, dried flowers, necklaces, etc.
Then you keep walking past this sad, sad gate to two enormous, statuesque walls with engravings on the front denoting who this place is in memory of. It is intimidating how large these two walls are. Mirroring the two walls on one side is the view of two more walls on the other side. Their reflection is present in a wide, and very long reflection pool. There are two times on each of the mirrored walls (on opposite ends of the pool) that have the two times of the minutes before and after the bomb went off: 9:01 and 9:03. They remember the minute within these two times, marked by these towering black walls.
To the right you can see the "Empty Chairs" as they call them. I don't know what it implies, whether it is referring to the offices that were destroyed, or the chairs at the dinner table that will never be refilled or what, but whatever it is, it is a moving gesture. What is the saddest part of all, is spotting a small chair for a child in the midst of the others.
Here is another view of a child's chair: 
This was not a sad experience, but it was nevertheless a moving one. It is humbling to think how fragile life is! We really need to do our best while we are here.
If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to eachother. ~Mother Teresa
6 comments:
Addy is on my lap as I read this post and write to you. Wow, what emotions you have brought up with this post. What a neat thing for you to be able to experience. Not sure if I could go there, as a mother! Life truly is so fragile.
That is really neat that you were able to visit there. I remember feeling similar feelings when I visited Ground Zero just a year after it happened. So sad that these things can happen--and with no warning. Thanks for the reminder to cherish what we have now!
Neat pictures Jayci! I went to the site just about a year after it happened. These monuments are incredible. Thanks for sharing! And I have a question- are you afraid of tornadoes there? That'd be all I could think about. :)
I felt these mixed emotions in Hawaii at Pearl Harbor too.
what a beautiful monument. i heard about the chairs. i think president monson gave a talk or wrote an article in the ensign about this monument and i have always wanted to see it up close. thanks for taking such good pictures. i love that quote by mother teresa.
I've been there to see that. It was so sad and depressing to see the baby's little graves. I don't see how people can do such horrible things sometimes.
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