Oklahoma City Memorial

I'm spending this Thanksgiving in Oklahoma City getting familiar with the area I will be moving to next summer. While here, we took some time to visit the Oklahoma City Memorial. I couldn't believe what a moving experience it was. We didn't get to go into the museum this visit, but just standing where such a devastating event in our history took place, seeing the pictures of a couple of the children who died hung on the fence outside and the momentos left by loved ones and by complete strangers, I couldn't help but feel a small part of the sadness and anger that must have been felt by the people that were actually here experiencing this. And then, as I entered the memorial, the pool below was beautiful and just so peaceful despite the fact that the wind was blowing so hard that I had to have my husband stand behind me and hold me still so I could take a picture.

There was a wall made of tiles that had been made by children all over the country in memory of the victims. The wall stretches along the front of the museum and is covered on both sides by these tiles.
The tree below is known as the "Survivor Tree". This is the only tree that survived the blast and is absolutely beautiful. It stretches out in a beautiful canopy and they have built a deck beneath it that overlooks the pool.
These small memorials are probably the most moving. There is one for each victim with the children's being smaller, like the second one in the picture below. There is a name engraved on the front of the base of each.

The building that houses the museum has these words painted on the side. They were written by one of the rescue workers. Many people in the building were injured, some critically, when windows were blown out. Fortunately, no one was killed. I couldn't get the bottom line in the picture, so I'll end with them here.

"And God Demands it!"