OKC Memorial and Botanical Gardens

Once our plans for hiking in the Wichita Mountains got postponed on Friday due to church related obligations, Sarah and I decided to try a Saturday adventure closer to home - a visit to the Oklahoma City Memorial and the Botanical Gardens.  Sarah texted our friends Zach and Genavee with a last minute invite, and they were able to come with us.  Sarah was our experienced tour guide since the rest of us had never been to the Memorial.  

We began walking around the outside of the Memorial where a message written by one of the first responders remains on the wall of a journalism building that has now become a museum, across the street to the north of where the federal building was located.

 

There was a Catholic church one block to the west of where the federal building stood.  In its place a monument entitled "Jesus wept" now stands, with pillars representing each of the children who were killed in the bombing.

  

 Along the western edge of the Memorial is a remnant of the chain link fence that was put up around the site shortly after the bombing.  People turned that fence into a memorial by placing all sorts of things on the fence, so part of that first memorial was included when the formal Memorial was constructed.  (People continued to add to it today, and every few months they remove some of the artifacts to preserve the history.) 

  

 The Memorial includes two large gates with 9:01 and 9:03 engraved on them (the minute before and the minute after the bombing) and is called "Between the Gates of Time."  Inscribed on both gates is the following quote:

We come here to remember those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever. May all who leave here know the impact of violence.  May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity.

 

 

The old journalism building that is now the Memorial Museum

 The Memorial also has empty chairs for each of the victims of the bombings - smaller chairs for the 19 children who were killed - all in rows according to which floor of the building they were on.

  

 

There was one tree in the area that survived the blast - the Survivor Tree - which is part of the Memorial.

 

  It was nice to be able to visit the Memorial and learn more about an event that has had such an impact on the people in this area.  The park ranger mentioned how everyone has their own story in relation to the bombing, particularly those who are from Oklahoma, and as people visit the Memorial, we each gain our own personal story.

We then went a few blocks south to the Botanical Gardens, a serene garden in the middle of the city.  One of the first things we saw was a goose that thought it was a flamingo, standing on one leg:

 

 I particularly liked the water features and since I'm the photographer, that is what you get to see:

 

(You may see this one incorporated into a future Christmas card picture)

  

 

Since I told Zach and Genavee that this picture was going on our blog when I took it, I'm staying true to my word.

 

Once we had dropped Zach and Genavee off, I turned to Sarah and said, "Now, when I'm watching the Thunder play on TNT and they do an aerial view of Oklahoma City and you can see the Botanical Gardens all lit up, I can say that I've been there."

Blank stare.

"Aren't you at least glad I waited to say that until after we dropped them off?"

Smile, breaking into laughter: "Yes."