Twelve years ago, at 9:02 am on April 19, 1995, I was in class at UCO in Edmond. I didn't feel the impact of the blast as many others did when Timothy McVeigh set off the bomb in downtown Oklahoma City because I was several miles away. As I was walking from class to the parking lot, I noticed activity at the fire station on the corner and the fire chief's vehicle driving back and forth on Edmond Rd. Once I got to the parking lot, a fellow student asked me if I had heard about the explosion saying she thought it was a bomb. I thought "It's got to be a gas explosion or accident. Who'd want to set off a bomb here?"
Once I turned on the radio and headed home I began to realize the scope of the devastation. I could see the smoke when I turned South on the Broadway extension. When I got home, my brother (he stayed home sick that day) was on the phone. He was trying to find out where our Mom was. Our house was several miles away but he had been awakened by the explosion. Mom had been in the area earlier that morning, but was far from there when the bomb went off.
Then I had to go to the elementary school down the street where I was doing my field observation for my elementary educaton degree. There was a substitute teacher that day. The kids were just coming back from P.E. when I got there and asked what was going on. They had felt the explosion as well. We learned from the news that the explosion was indeed a bomb and not accidental. The kids asked why anyone would do that - I didn't know what to tell them. The sub tried to explain it away with some Oprah-like psychobabble.
The memorial that stands at the site is very beautiful. The web site has a virtual tour and explains the symbolism of the chairs, the gates, the tree, the fence, etc.
When I first saw the design, especially the chairs, I was afraid it would be tacky. But it turned out very well. I have visited a couple of times, I don't go in the area where the chairs are - it just feels to me like it is a private area for the victims' families. Across the street from the site, at St. Joseph's old cathedral (which was heavily damaged by the explosion), the Archdiocese erected a statue called "Jesus Wept" - see photograph above left. The statue of Jesus faces away from the site.
I thank God that my family and loved ones were not harmed that day. Even so, the emotions were suffocating. It was on the news 24X7 for weeks. There were so many heartwrenching stories. Everyone was sad.
None of us knows how much time we or the ones we love have in this life. I keep thinking of the words of Teresa of Avila:
Let nothing disturb you / Let nothing frighten you/ all things are passing / God never changes/ Patience obtains all things/ he wants nothing who posesses God / God alone Suffices
God alone suffices.
