14 years ago today, the world that I knew as secure and "safe" came to a screeching hault. No one in Oklahoma City that day ever thought that something so horrific, terrible and disturbing would or could ever happen in our own backyard. We all learned a lesson that day. It can happen to anyone, anywhere at anytime.
Today, I want to remember those who were lost that day and those that were left behind. The following are a few of the lives that have touched my life. Maybe not directly, but through the people that they left behind.
Scott D. Williams
"Scott Williams, 24, of Tuttle would have been a new father in about two months. His wife, Nikki Williams, is expecting their first child, a girl they already had decided to name Kylie."He was a wonderful person," said his aunt, Linda Lekawski. Williams, a salesman for William E. Davis and Sons Food Inc., was making a delivery to the child-care center at the federal building."
Miss Baylee Almon
Baylee Almon, who celebrated her first birthday the day before the terrorist bomb took her life, is described by family members as having a loving, heart-filled smile. An amateur photographer snapped her photo as a firefighter carried her away from the destroyed building. The photo appeared on the front pages of newspapers and magazines worldwide. Of all the thousands of photos taken at the site, the photo of Baylee captured the horror of the bombing and took it straight to the heart of a sorrowful nation.
Chase Dalton and Colton Wade Smith
"Brothers Colton Wade Smith and Chase Dalton Smith wanted to be together all the time, said their mother, Edye Smith. "They loved each other. They didn't want to go anywhere without the other," she said. The Oklahoma City boys died together in the bombing, shortly after Edye Smith dropped them off at the America's Kids day-care center at the federal building. The boys' father is Tony Smith. Edye Smith said the boys would be walking down the street and pass someone and Chase would quickly say, "Hi, mister. How're you doing?" Also, Barney was their favorite television show. "They were happy. They were real free-spirited," she said. "They were sweet." Chase, 3, and Colton, 2, were the only children of Edye Smith. "You can never hug and kiss your child too many times," she said."
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