Yesterday was the 18th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing.  While I didn't make it to the memorial yesterday, I was able to go today so it seemed fitting to have this be the photo of the day.  This photo shows one of two entrances to the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial.  If you've never had the chance to visit the memorial, it says 9:01.  The other entrance says 9:03.  These times mark the time surrounding the events that took place at 9:02 a.m. on April 19th, 1995 inside the space shown in this photo.  The reflecting pool stands on what used to be NW 5th Street, which is where the truck was parked when it exploded.  To the right, there is a line Loblolly Pine trees that stand to mark where the Murrah building's outer wall once stood. This specific type of pine tree was chosen because it grows to be nine stories (100 ft) tall: the same height as the Murrah building.  On the other side of the pine trees, inside where the building once stood 149 larger adult-sized chairs and 19 smaller child-sized chairs now stand.  Each chair has the name of one of the 168 total people who lost their lives on that day.  They are organized in nine rows corresponding to where they were in the Murrah building at 9:02. From overhead, the shape of the chairs make up the same shape as the hole that was left in the building by the bomb, symbolizing that these 168 people make up the piece that was left missing from the building.  To the left above the stairs is what is now referred to as the "Tree of Life".  It was a tree that somehow managed to survive the blast.  Not seen in this photo are the countless tokens of remembrance left by friends and family members over the years along a chain link fence that was put up shortly after the blast as the clean-up process started.

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