16 Years Ago Today

16 years ago today Oklahoma was attacked by a terrorist. The state was wounded after the Alfred P. Murrah Building was destroyed and 168 lives were taken. Oklahoma survived this and rebuilt, but that scar will always be there and we will never forget.

Even though I was a child, I remember exactly what I was doing when this happened. My family and I were living in Scottsdale, Arizona and I had the TV on as I was getting ready for school. My mom had left for work and I was just waiting until it was time to walk to the bus stop. I had the TV on some crazy cartoon and suddenly a women from the local news came on and said a bomb had gone off in Oklahoma City. I honestly thought it wasn't real and went to school not truly knowing what had happened.

After school I came home to find my mom crying on the couch. I didn't understand why she was crying until she had explained to me everything that happened. She told me that someone blew up the building and she worried about some of her friends. I instantly thought about my grandparents and begged her to tell me they were OK. Unfortunately we didn't know because the phone lines were tied up and we couldn't call.

Luckily we eventually got through to my grandparents they were fine, as well as the rest of my family. They said they felt the bomb, but at the time they didn't know what had happened. While our family was safe, my mom did lose a few friends and it hurt her deeply.

Even though I wasn't physically here and was just a child I will remember this event and what I was doing the rest of my life. I will remember how I felt and what it was like coming home to see the building as nothing but rubble. I will also remember crying when I fully understood what happened.

If you have an opportunity to do so, I'd encourage everyone to go to the Oklahoma National Memorial. It is so beautiful and peaceful and even I sometimes find it hard to believe that such a tragedy happened in that location.