#1133 TBT: a year ago in Oklahoma City

It was one year ago today that T and I got to go to Oklahoma City as a guest of the Utah Jazz (courtesy of Granite) to watch the Jazz play the Thunder. At the arena there in OKC, there was a photographer who took our photo. I bought the digital copy for $5. (I can't believe how much my hair has grown in a year!)

I wrote about the post #888, but I don't think I ever put up any photos.

We had good seats. The Thunder punched the Jazz in the mouth, they beat them so badly. In the first half, the Thunder fans were going crazy. Later, the game got so lop-sided that most Thunder fans were kind of bored and the Jazz fans there were just embarrassed. Here's what we saw a lot of in the first half:

I was happy to go to the game. It was a lot of fun and a really great trip overall.

One of the highlights was definitely going to see the Oklahoma City Memorial. It's been 19 years since the bombing in Oklahoma City. I remember it being on the news. I think I was in an airport on my way to California the day it happened. The city has built a really beautiful and peaceful memorial park at the site of the bombing. It felt quite reverent and solemn, as it should.

168 people were killed in the attack. In the field where the front of the building that was destroyed was, there are now 168 chairs, each with the name of a person who was killed. There are some smaller chairs, indicating children who died. There was a daycare in the building.

 

I got a little choked up by all the chairs, especially the small ones.

There is also a gorgeous reflection pool. At each end of the pool is an arch. One one arch, there is a time stamp of 9:01, the last moment of peace. At the other end, the arch has the time stamp of 9:03, the first moment of recovery. It's very symbolic and really pretty.

I will always be grateful and thankful that T and I got to take that quick trip to OKC. We had a fun time made some good memories.