Jesus Wept

With the 17^th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing last week and the upcoming 12^th Annual Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon coming up this weekend I found myself getting nostalgic.

Looking back as a lifelong Okie, the Oklahoma City Bombing shaped the state of Oklahoma and interestingly, if not oddly, became a place of peace for this kid over a decade later. In short, while in college, and as I entered the professional world, the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial was where I would go to find solace.

I would sit and admire the work of an architect who was told that a ¾-inch reflecting pool could not be done in Oklahoma. He proved the naysayers wrong. Side note: that architect reviewed my first year architecture final and tore it to shreds (rightfully so, though I still got an A). That architect would later go on to design the Skydance Bridge in OKC.

In the evening, I would sit with a security guard and watch a single duck, that never learned his lesson, crash and burn in the ¾-inch reflecting pool. It was hilarious.

I started and finished my first half marathon at the bombing site while families that had lost loved ones cheered wildly along the course.

Months before I left Oklahoma, a group of friends and I joined together to run the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon relay in the pouring rain.

The list goes on, but at the end of the day, there is a certain amount of strength and peace to be found at the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. I continued to visit until the day that I left. Just outside the West Gate of the Memorial stands a statue of Jesus with the words “Jesus wept”. The image is one of the last I compiled before I moved to Durham from Oklahoma City.

Carolina Theatre

            The first time I visited the Carolina Theatre I had flown from Oklahoma City to North Carolina to visit Elizabeth. We watched A Clock Work Orange. It was awesome to see the film as it had originally appeared. The scratches on the film. The cue marks or “cigarette burns”. The film rolling in a way that no DVD or “enhanced” version could do justice. No IMAX. No 3-D. Just film.

            I say just film, but it is more than that. It is a film housed inside a beautiful, historic structure. Opened in early 1926, the Carolina Theatre was the first theater in Durham to admit African-Americans. The main stage (yes, it has a stage), called Fletcher Hall, has two balconies and seats 1,016. The structure was designed in the Beaux Arts style and is the only downtown Durham building of its kind. And the blueprints… the blueprints of the Carolina Theatre only made me appreciate the structure even more.

            So naturally, that is where we watched The Godfather on Easter Sunday.

Duke Gardens

         The Sarah P. Duke Gardens spread across a 55-acre wooded and landscaped area on Duke University’s West Campus. Last weekend Elizabeth and I decided to begin our Easter Sunday by spending some time there. Many of the flowers were at their peak, and the weather could not have been more ideal. An outdoor Easter Mass, being held within the gardens, had just let out.  Families spread blankets for picnics. Little girls in their sundresses, and little boys in their suspenders, posed by the colorful blooms for photo ops to appease their parents.

         We laid a blanket down in the shade and enjoyed the scenery and some chocolate covered strawberries. While the holiday would normally be spent with our families in Oklahoma, we enjoyed looking up at the tall trees, viewing the beautiful gardens and watching other families chase their toddlers who were trying to make a mad dash up a hill before they were found out.

         Hey, sure footed 2 year old in the stripes, I was rooting for you. Kid with the white shirt, you never stood a chance.