Celebrant Pam Vetter


	Celebrating Life Everyone Has A Story...

Moving Memorial in Oklahoma City
Contributed by: Pam Vetter

5/24/07 Valley News Article

While in Oklahoma City for the International Celebrant Convention, I visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum.

Emotionally, it was an overwhelming experience. It was also an event that I personally remember through television coverage on April 19, 1995. I was at home with my second son who was born a few days earlier. Rocking my sleeping baby, I watched the unfolding horror on television.

Today, the Memorial focuses on the world working together to heal while remembering the lives of 168 lost.

The Memorial honors the victims, survivors, rescuers, and every person who sees value in life. You can feel the emotion of the moment as you approach the Memorial and see the words that mark the exterior wall: "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."

Once you walk through the entrance, you immediately see the Gates of Time. Two times mark the wall at the ends of the Memorial. One time is 9:01, which represents the time of innocence of the city prior to the bombing. The second time of 9:03 represents the moment we were changed forever and the hope that developed after the bombing.

The long Reflecting Pool represents a peaceful energy of comfort. It is breathtaking.

When you see the Field of Empty chairs, especially at night as they are lighted, you are overwhelmed by each chair. All of the life stories that came to a halt, especially those of children that are represented by smaller chairs. In the darkness, the lights of the Memorial offer an incredible power to move you emotionally.

The Survivor Tree somehow still stands looking over the entire Memorial as though a protector. The tree is a 90-year-old American Elm that still shows the effects and burn marks from the bombing, yet survived. Hundreds of small branches reach toward the sky on the Survivor Tree, which to me represented lifelines and stories of lives lost and those who survived.

Across the street, a powerful statue of Jesus looks away from the Memorial with his face in his hands. Simple words below echo the sentiments of visitors: "And Jesus Wept." The tears honor the innocent and remember those who are no longer with us.

The Museum allows individuals to relive that day when our world changed forever from the beginning moments of a normal day. A recording is played from a courtroom hearing in which you can hear the normalcy of the day transform as the sounds of the bombing intrudes into lives. Just as visitors hear the bombing, pictures of all of the victims appear on the lighted wall. It is an overwhelming moment.

Moments in time have been preserved. On the far wall outside, one of the rescue teams left behind a note that remains in spray paint to remind people of that day: "We search for the truth. We seek justice. The courts require it. The victims cry for it. And God demands it!"

Oklahoma City has honored the resilience of the nation with this incredible Memorial while remembering those who were lost. It is a Memorial that everyone in the world should visit. We will not forget, we will remember.

For more information link to www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org.

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