10 yrs ago today I was wondering why furniture was being moved upstairs

CornField

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Tue Apr-19-05 09:41 AM
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10 yrs ago today I was wondering why furniture was being moved upstairs

I was living in Stillwater, Oklahoma and working in an office building. My office was on the second floor. I had shown up early for work because we had a large project needing to go out at the end of the week. I was sitting at my desk when it seemed that the folks upstairs pushed every desk in their office across the floor. Not wanting to deal with the noise, I flipped on the office radio. It was tuned to one of those musical NPR stations because that's what the boss liked. I left it where it was and went back to work.

Within a few minutes, the DJ broke into regular programming to announce that there had been a "major explosion" in Oklahoma City. Speculation at that point was that a gas line was breeched. No other information was available.

The boss came in and I told him about the explosion -- then warned him that it sounded like moving day upstairs. I went back to work.

A bit later (30 minutes? 45?) the DJ broke in again to announce that they would be leaving their typical program to join the local news station. It was now being reported that a bomb had ripped through OKC.

My phone rang. It was my close friend, Eric, who worked as an ER nurse. "I'll pick you up in 10 minutes," he said. "What? Why?"

"They've put out a call and want everyone in the area with medical training to come to OKC," he said. "They need all the help they can get."

I did have medical training, but only as a nurse's assistant. I hung up with Eric and told my boss. He told me to go. "Maybe someone will need your help."

I changed into my gym clothes in the car while we zipped along I-35. Nothing -- absolutely nothing I'd seen in my life -- could have prepared me for what I saw that day. It was the closest I ever hope to come to a war zone.

Eric was taken to the triage area, to help those who were waiting on transport to overloaded local hospitals. I was steered to "the church" -- the makeshift morgue. It was the still grounds for lifeless bodies and/or parts.

I don't know how long we were there before everyone started screaming and running. Word was out that another bomb had been found. This particular event was to replay three times.

Eric stayed on at one of the local hospitals, helping in the ER and surgery. I caught a ride out of town as the sun began to set. It was another beautiful Oklahoma sunset... full of pinks, oranges and blues.

When I got home, my husband and daughter were already sleeping. I went straight to the shower and attempted to scrub death from my skin. I remembered thinking that I should cry, but I couldn't. I was numb and shocked. When I finally stumbled from the shower I didn't head to my own bed. Instead I entered my daughter's room and curled up beside her on the little toddler bed. With her warmth beside me, I released the emotions of the day.