Lisa's Lounge

Went to Oklahoma City to visit my dear friend Vicky - haven't seen her in about 3 years! I've known her since we were 12, and we got in LOTS OF TROUBLE in our 20's.... But then she had all these kids and stuff and moved and all. It was so good to see her. And a bonus was her almost (Sept 24) 19 year old daughter was visiting from right here in Hutto, Texas, too! I don't get to see her much either - she's such a busy girl. She and Brett were buds when they were much younger. We had a great visit, ate some food, drank some beer... on the somber side we visited the Oklahoma City Memorial to the Murrah Building bombing that happened back in April of 1995. What an experience that was. Such a quiet, reflectful (is that a word) & serene place. I have pictures on my flickr site, and here's a few too. (check out the set here. ) Vicky and Alex (that's the almost 19 year old daughter) had already been through the museum and while they recommended it highly, they did not ever want to go again. It has several "chapters" or different rooms, and in the first room you sit in total darkness, listening to a meeting getting started at 9am at a building across the street. The company was taping it - and she says you can here the huge BOOM! of the bombs and then all the chaos. They have artifacts from the bombing, including the axel from the truck that was used to park the bomb. So - taking her advice - I opted out. We were all in tears as it was just visiting the memorial site. No doubt, though, I'll go again next time I go back - I'll just have to get Vicky to drop me off because I'm sure it takes a couple of hours to get through the whole museum. In the photos you'll see a reflecting pool with 2 identical archways/doorways at each end. On one end it is etched "9:01" and on the other it is "9:03". The bombing occurred at 9:02, so the first doorway represents the innocence before the bombing, and the other side represents the lives that were change forever. Also on the 9:03 side is the remembrance fence where people leave hundreds of mementos every day. It really is an amazing thing to see. Whoever designed it did such a fantastic job.

Entrance


9:01 side


9:03 side


The Chairs


The Remembrance Fence (that's Vicky and 2 of her kids in front)