Thursday, April 22, 2004

Maudie Reflects on OC... 4.19.95

Maudie from Poker Perspectives mentioned the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing nine years ago Monday. It's touching and honest and after 9.11, I'm afarid a lot of people forgot about what happened to the citizens of Oklahoma. Check out here entry. Here's a bit:
April 19, 1995 I was driving to work when I turned on my radio in the middle of pleas for donations of blood and where to go. Something bad had happened, but I didn't know what. I thought a gas main must have blown.

When I got to work, I turned on a little tv I had in my office for weather emergencies (I was managing a performing arts facility at the time). I still could not determine what had happened. It wasn't until I got online that the story began to piece together. A car bomb had exploded and destroyed the Murrah Building. People were killed and many injured. As the details and speculation began to mount, shock and disbelief set in. Of course, I, like so many others, immediately blamed "them" - foreign terroists. The shock and disbelief was nothing, though, to the utter outrage I would feel later upon learning that it was one of "our own" who perpetrated this evil.

As the day wore on, I remained glued to the television, radio, internet - anything that would keep me informed. Gradually an overwhelming need to "do something" to help swept over me. I was not alone in that feeling. Thousands of other Oklahomans were feeling the same way. It's what we do. In times of disaster and tragedy we help one another.

Periodically during the reports, a request for needed items at the site would go out. One of the requests was for pillows, blankets, tarps, and umbrellas - bad weather had started to come in. At last - something I could do. I had several umbrellas at the theatre that had been left behind after events and numerous extra pillows and a tarp at my house. I also grabbed every blanket I had and loaded everything in my truck and drove up to the city to the drop-off location, just a few blocks from the site.
Great read. Thanks for sharing, Maudie.

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