Laugh Riot Tour Continues - Next Stop, Oklahoma City

The goal of Road Trip '07 is to avoid the route we took during Road Trip '06 - twice. See more of America. Get to know the country. And so on. And so forth.

Boy, Oklahoma City is a bit of a downer. And a bit of a triumph.

We couldn't travel this way and *not* pay our respects. So we stopped by the site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and walked the grounds in awed silence. Even our children were amazed at the splendor of the place.

Two giant stone gates stand at either entrance, connected by a reflecting pool. One gate reads 9:01 and the other 9:03. The brochure explains that the earlier time represents innocence (the bomb went off at 9:02 that morning) and two minutes later Oklahoma City, and the country, changed forever.

Chairs, both large and small, sit on the site of the actual building and represent each adult and child killed. They are placed in rows corresponding with the floor in which victims were working, visiting, or, in the case of the children, playing.

My family and I visited the museum as well without lingering or reading descriptions. Didn't want to scare the boys. Instead, we walked through depictions of life that morning and how peace shattered along with windows and concrete when the building was blown apart. We glanced at video footage of everyday heroes responding to the tragedy and heard testimony from friends and families who still miss their loved ones lost to militant nonsense. Wasn't really interested in the investigation and apprehension of the bad guys. Took our time through the final exhibit outlining the hope that everyone who walks away from the museum knows the impact of violence.

My children were shielded from most of the horror and didn't quite understand our rudimentary definition of terrorism. Hopefully, they learned that guns and bombs hurt people and, therefore, should not be used even in make-believe games. And they learned that Americans help each other. This was illustrated best by the hats from firefighters who rushed to Oklahoma from all over.

"Look, Mommy, they came from Boston. And Jacksonville. And Michigan!"

"They even came from California to help!"

"I know," I said, smiling. "Isn't this a great country?"

Afterwards, as we made our way to the car, I looked at Husband and said, "New Orleans. Oklahoma City. What's next? How about a Holocaust Memorial. Or where Gacy buried his victims."

"Look kids," Husband added, "the birthplace of tuberculosis!"

And the tour goes on...