OKC Memorial

We went downtown to the Oklahoma City National Memorial today.
The large structure you see in the end of the reflecting pool has a duplicate behind us, blocking the inside of the memorial from the street. When you walk in, you see this beautiful reflecting pool. It was stunning. One of the gates is inscribed with 9:01, which is the time we were still innocent. The attack occured at 9:02, so the opposite gate reads 9:03, the moment we were changed forever due to the costliest act of terrorism up to that time on American soil.
Below is the Field of Empty Chairs. There are nine rows of chairs, representing the nine floors of the building. The chairs are placed according to the floor on which those killed worked or were visiting. The names are inscribed on the glass bases which light up at night. 168 people were killed, 19 of them children.


This wall is of a neighboring building that now houses the Memorial Museum. It is virtually the same as it was, with black bricks filling the shattered out windows. The message was left by a rescue team on April 19, 1995.

The whole thing was solemn and sad. I did pretty well until we got here:
This is the playground of the children's daycare center. There are metal crosses on the fence with red ribbons above them. Each one has a bell attached that you can ring to send up a prayer for the children who were killed.