All Rowelled Up

All Rowelled Up
All Rowelled Up

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Let Us Not Forget

Today marks a very sad anniversary for the state of Oklahoma.  Sixteen years ago today the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City was bombed.  I was in the eighth grade and didn't fully understand what this meant politically or what kind of statement this was.  I knew it was sad and I knew it was tragic but what do you really know in the eighth grade besides looking forward to high school.

I've never been to the Oklahoma City National Memorial.  When I visited the bombing site it was just the outside portion of the Memorial and just that alone will stop you and really make you think.  I really want to go see the rest of it.


For those of you who do not live in Oklahoma I strongly encourage you to do a little research if you are unsure of exactly what took place that day.  It's beyond heartbreaking and I couldn't help but tear up as I read friends Facebook posts today with them just saying "let's remember."

Last year I was exposed to 'The McVeigh Tapes: Confessions of an American Terrorist'.  I had no intentions of watching it.  I don't like to watch specials along this line.  I saw all the coverage of it before and it's just a little too much to watch it again.  I feel the same way about 9-11.  I know it's important and it's a part of history but it bothers me too much and I just don't want to see it again.

Zach enjoys these kind of documentaries and he started watching it last year when we were getting ready for bed.  I turned over to go to sleep and found myself constantly lifting my head to sneak a peek of the program.  I could hear Zach snoring so I knew he wasn't watching anymore but I couldn't take my eyes off the television.  He recorded it and attempted to watch it again one afternoon.  I was cleaning or scrapbooking or something so I was just glancing at the t.v. every now and then and eventually I sat down and watched it all over again.  I ended up seeing this documentary three times before Zach saw it all the way through once.  It is a really good documentary that is filmed in a very different way that really sucks you in.  Please, if you get the chance, watch it. It exposes step by step of that day and makes you wonder what gets into people that they can just act out these insane acts of violence.

I remember everything about the day Timothy McVeigh was executed. It was June 1, 2001 and I was getting ready to volunteer for the US Open that was in Tulsa.  I was very excited to  maybe catch a glimpse of Tiger Woods.  Anyhow, the news kept showing the little building that he would be executed in and it just made my stomach turn knowing that any minute there was a life going to be taken in a small room in that building.  I felt guilty feeling sad for him after he already took 168 lives with 19 of them being children.  He was a killer.  Why am I sad for him?  I guess thinking that no matter what he did, he was once someone's baby, someone's friend, someone's little boy and it broke my heart for his family.

So, today, as you think of those who were killed 16 years ago find a place in your heart to think about Timothy McVeigh's family.  I'm sure they carry a heavy weight on their shoulders every year on this day.



April

2 comments:

  1. I remember when this happened -- I was still fairly young but I remember it. It was so sad -- I don't know that I would want to watch documentaries about this...I mean I am a little drawn to them but at the same time, it freaks me out what people will do to one another

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  2. Very interesting, I have never seen a documentry on this..shocking since my Fiance is addicted to them (documentrys that is)!

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