9:02

There are certain moments in history when you know exactly where you were when an event happened.

I was driving on Lake Hefner Parkway, watching the clock because I was meeting a friend for coffee before my haircut. I was running a little behind, so I was watching the digital clock in my car.

9:00.
9:01.
9:02.
9:03.

When I got to the shop we were meeting, it was abuzz with questions, "Did you feel that" and the initial reactions to the bomb that it was a natural gas explosion.

Then we started getting the live news feeds. The front half of the Murrah building was gone. It looked like a war zone in downtown Oklahoma City.

Everyone was in shock. The city came to a standstill for the longest time. No one went anywhere. The streets were deserted.

This is the part of the Oklahoma City National Memorial that represents 9:02. The time when the bomb went off in front of the Murrah Building on April 19, 1995. The grass area covers the ground where the building stood. The chairs represent the people who lost their lives. 168 of them. The concrete from the original building is the wall you see in the background.

There were a lot of people there tonight when we went. Storms are coming and it's cloudy, so you don't see the full effect of the glass bottomed chairs. Every person has their name on a chair. Women who were pregnant have the name of their unborn child along with their own. Night time is the most beautiful, when the chairs are lit from within the glass bottom.

I heard a Park Ranger telling someone last night Memorial Day is the busiest time for the Memorial. There a lot of people there tonight. More than last night. A lot of families.

I blipped 9:01 yesterday.

Tomorrow, 9:03.