If you are from Oklahoma I don’t have to explain the title of my post because you already know exactly what I’m talking about. April 19, 1995. That date will bring up a mixture of feelings in any Oklahoma City natives heart. The day that  we had a domestic terrorist bombing pierce the heart of  the city, claiming 168 lives. I remember very few things from when I was young with vivid detail, but I remember a lot from the week and months after that happened. I remember that my house was home base for all of the neighborhood kids that had parents who were doctors and helped at the site. I remember many, many vivid pictures and new reports. I remember lots of crying, and I also remember the community stepping up and embracing each other to get through the tragedy. And now, almost 20 years later, the healing of our hearts has begun but the scars are still fresh.

This year unfortunately we are sharing that hurt with another community that has been attacked by more hate. It is hard to express the sorrow that one city can share with another, but I can feel the heavy hearts in OKC extending out to those in Boston. We know that you will never look at your streets the same way. We know what type of hurt you must be feeling. And we know that Boston will forever share a sad April date with us.

I’m tired of people getting hurt. And I am especially tired of people hurting other people. Every time I get a New York Times alert pop up on my phone, I fear what it may tell me. I keep wondering why this keeps happening? Could there be truth in the theory that video games are desensitizing people to the horrors of killing other people? Is there stock in the idea that Media makes dark celebrities out of villains with their non-stop coverage, only resulting in other deranged individuals wanting their name to be remembered for the rest of history, whether that be in a good or bad light? These are all questions that seem so heavy and big that I feel like there is nothing I can do to help the people in our world that are hemorrhaging pain because of the actions of others who decide that it is okay to inflict this hurt.

I was talking with my sister, and in my true 80 year old woman fashion, I told her that I think this world is becoming a more terrible place. That this generation HAS to be worse than all others in history, and it’s only getting worse and worse. But then she reminded me that our grandparents had Hitler. Oh yeah, that guy. Okay, so I guess evil has been around for a while. And terrible things are happening all around the world. So how have we all survived? Because my heart is sore from the hurt.

This is what I decided. We have survived because there are people, like the people back in 1995, who sacrificed their time, their body, their own hearts to help care for victims in the OKC bombing. There are stories after stories coming from Boston of strangers holding other strangers for comfort, helping them to ambulances and so much more. People like this, who aren’t getting 24 hour coverage on the TV, who’s names will never go in history books, but will never be forgotten by the individuals that they helped.

Tragedies in a way will bring people together. Times like these will evoke grand kindness. As I think about these terrible days, I pray that it won’t cause me to fear what this world is becoming. That their hate won’t win over my life, but instead it would remind me to always have great kindness. Every. Single. Day. Maybe if together we can all do this it will make a mark on the world that erases some of the pain. My prayers go out to you Boston, and to you Texas for your tragedy, and to you OKC for your healing scars.