Nov 3, 2015 3 min read

“Do you remember where you were when …?” I always find answers to that question interesting.

I will never forget the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when movers were carrying furniture out of my apartment in Charleston, W.Va., en route to my new home in Raleigh, N.C.

We didn’t have the television on when those planes hit the World Trade Center, but I soon heard about it, and we tuned in. The television was the last item loaded onto the truck as we kept pausing – stunned – to watch coverage of the terror attacks.

I’m old enough to remember watching the space shuttle Challenger explode on television and vaguely remember as a child watching the grim expression of Richard Nixon as he resigned the presidency of the United States.

Remembering dates and statistics is not my forte, but I enjoy reading about history. I realize not everyone shares that interest. Still, I was disappointed and a bit surprised at a recent incident that drove home the realization of how easy it is to forget (or never learn) about important historical events.

I was attending a weather conference for work in Oklahoma City, and the nice people who put on the conference kicked off the first day by welcoming all of us to Oklahoma and encouraging us to spend some of our free time looking around the city and taking in the sights.

One of the places of note was the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. When they asked if anyone had questions, one attendee asked if there was a grocery store nearby.

Then, a second hand was raised and a young attendee asked, “What’s the memorial for?”

There was an awkward split second of silence when you could almost hear an audible gasp emerge from those above a certain age. The speaker very politely explained about the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building by Timothy McVeigh that took 168 lives and destroyed hundreds of families.

I was shocked for a moment that someone would not know about the memorial. Working in the news business leads me to investigate and ask questions.

I’m a naturally curious person, so this is something I do without thinking.

I’m also an avid traveler and always research where I’m going, looking for things to do and places to see.

It doesn’t surprise me that this person probably didn’t learn about the bombing in school; however, it does surprise me that in this day and age of readily available information someone visiting Oklahoma City wouldn’t have done an Internet search on their destination and found at least one mention of it.

Hopefully, that young attendee took time to visit the memorial and learn about the events of that day.

If you’re ever in Oklahoma City, you should see it.

It’s beautifully done and a very touching tribute to those who lost their lives in a senseless act of violence.

Kristin Emery can be reached at kristinemery1@yahoo.com.