Sunday I visited the Oklahoma City Bombing Museum and Memorial.  I can’t even put in to words what I saw.  It was so moving, and so amazing.  The museum did a phenomenal job of putting you right in the middle of that day.   From the timeline of the hours leading up to the bombing, tales of people going about their lives, to moving in to a room where you listen to the only known audio that exists of when the bomb went off, and the utter chaos that followed.  You move through the immediate time period after, complete with sound and video, and videos of survivors and family members.  The rescue efforts, the recovery, the funerals, the mourning, the clean up, the trials, the rebuilding.  It was amazing.  I cried about 4 different times.  There was one room that showcased pictures of all the people that died in glass cases – and the families had donated a personal item, or something that explained who the people were.  That was so hard to look through and see.  It was so well done.  If you ever go to Oklahoma City, go.  It’s a tremendous experience.

I tried to take pictures that would do the outdoor memorial justice.  I could not.  There is no way any of these pictures can come close to mirroring what I experienced in real life.

When you first walk out of the museum (which is housed in the old Journal-Record newspaper building), you see the childrens area.  This wall is a collection of handprints sent by children all over the country as a token of love to be shared with the victims of the bombing.

They’ve left the Journal Record as it looked the day of the bombing (save for some structural fixes for safety).  They’ve bricked over the windows with black bricks to get the look of the windows blown out.  This building was directly across from the Federal Building.

On the wall of the building remains a message that was written by one of the rescuers from that day.

This area is in front of the Journal Record, and is called Rescuers Orchard and the Survivor Tree.  The trees were planted in honor of all the people that worked rescue efforts.  The tree had been in this spot for the past 90 years, and was not damaged in the explosion.

In front of this area is the gates of time, and the reflection pool.  Two black structures on either side mark the times of 9:01 and 9:03.  The pool in the middle marks the minute the bombing occured.  The pool is where the street used to be that was in front of the Federal Building.

As you can see, their is more beyond the pool.  The field of chairs is the memorial to all those that died.  The chairs are in what used to be the Federal Building.  They are arranged in 9 rows, with the 9 rows representing the 9 floors of the building.  The chairs are placed according to what floor the victim worked/died on.  The are big chairs for the adults, small chairs for the children.  The victims names are etched in the glass base.

The field is framed by the original sides of the Federal Building.

What do you tell the children you bring here?

It’s hard to describe the feeling you have while you are there.  You can definitely feel something there.  It’s an amazing place to witness.

To see all the pictures, you can look at my Flickr Stream.