I wanted to add the reason for my background for this blog; It is a newly sprung seedling (not sure what plant/tree it is...) but for me, it symbolizes growth and change, both of which I am experiencing...and from time to time may comment on in this blog...but the main inspiration for it is the earlier post about the OKC bombing and my friend...
He reminded me of the Survivor Tree, an American Elm Tree in downtown OKC that survived the bomb's blast and having been on fire. I hear people can get seeds/saplings from this beautiful tree, and that to me is a great symbol of survival, recovery and growth...something that the people of Oklahoma City and the nation have shown we are capable of...a beautiful thing :)
For more information, see: http://www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/secondary.php?section=5&catid=120
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Hello, Everyone :)
Greetings :)
I have begun this blog to begin a journey, to begin a discovery of sorts...
My first post is of a more serious and somewhat personal nature...
A great friend of mine is an Oklahoma City Bombing survivor. Not all wounds were of a physical nature, but took an emotional toll on so many. It's something for which I have often times felt sadness and remorse, not only for all those innocent men, women and children who died, but also due to the fact that I don't know enough about the tragedy itself.
On April 19, 1995, I was an adult college student in Oklahoma. On this particular morning, I had been asleep on the couch, after having fallen asleep the night before in front of the television, and after studying and what I now feel were somewhat menial tasks in the grander scheme of things...
I remember hearing (and feeling) something in my sleep, (classes weren't until afternoon that day) and only now, of course, do I know what it was that woke me up just long enough to think "hmm...must have been the garbage truck or something..." then went back to sleep...
But it wasn't...it was the day of the bombing that destroyed so many lives... and that feeling of safety and security we had all taken for granted. Surely this couldn't happen here in Oklahoma, of all places! Not so...
Sometime later, (I'm not sure of the exact date) there was a design contest to see who could come up with a meaningful design for the sculpture for the Memorial site. I was taking a sculpture course at the time, and our instructor gave us the option to create a design and enter it in this contest. I did research on the subject, but only to a point; I spent several hours going through the microfiche at the library looking at articles, stories...and mostly obituaries...of those who had perished. I cried throughout most of it and had to stop. But it gave me a better perspective of just what had happened that day.
Now that I have reconnected with my friend from high school and learned of his personal experiences and the details that I had never heard before, I want to be a part of sharing the story, even all this time later, it is fresh now in my mind and has become a journey into learning more about this piece of history, not only as an Oklahoman, but as a friend...
So, this is my very first blog, and I want to say to my friend, "I'm glad you are still here to take me on this journey, and hope that we as a people can learn and grow from knowing..."
I have begun this blog to begin a journey, to begin a discovery of sorts...
My first post is of a more serious and somewhat personal nature...
A great friend of mine is an Oklahoma City Bombing survivor. Not all wounds were of a physical nature, but took an emotional toll on so many. It's something for which I have often times felt sadness and remorse, not only for all those innocent men, women and children who died, but also due to the fact that I don't know enough about the tragedy itself.
On April 19, 1995, I was an adult college student in Oklahoma. On this particular morning, I had been asleep on the couch, after having fallen asleep the night before in front of the television, and after studying and what I now feel were somewhat menial tasks in the grander scheme of things...
I remember hearing (and feeling) something in my sleep, (classes weren't until afternoon that day) and only now, of course, do I know what it was that woke me up just long enough to think "hmm...must have been the garbage truck or something..." then went back to sleep...
But it wasn't...it was the day of the bombing that destroyed so many lives... and that feeling of safety and security we had all taken for granted. Surely this couldn't happen here in Oklahoma, of all places! Not so...
Sometime later, (I'm not sure of the exact date) there was a design contest to see who could come up with a meaningful design for the sculpture for the Memorial site. I was taking a sculpture course at the time, and our instructor gave us the option to create a design and enter it in this contest. I did research on the subject, but only to a point; I spent several hours going through the microfiche at the library looking at articles, stories...and mostly obituaries...of those who had perished. I cried throughout most of it and had to stop. But it gave me a better perspective of just what had happened that day.
Now that I have reconnected with my friend from high school and learned of his personal experiences and the details that I had never heard before, I want to be a part of sharing the story, even all this time later, it is fresh now in my mind and has become a journey into learning more about this piece of history, not only as an Oklahoman, but as a friend...
So, this is my very first blog, and I want to say to my friend, "I'm glad you are still here to take me on this journey, and hope that we as a people can learn and grow from knowing..."
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