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CNN Live Sunday
A Special Mother's Day Experienced at Bombing Memorial
Aired May 13, 2001 - 16:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Citizens across the country and in Oklahoma City are celebrating Mother's Day today. Many in Oklahoma are remembering the 59 mothers who were lost in the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building. CNN's national correspondent Martin Savidge has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mommy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What did you find, sweetheart?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is 6th Mother's Day since a bomb turned the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building into a memorial.
BETTY SCOTT: It just makes you appreciate your family and the loss of the other families at that time. And it was so unexpected and so unprepared for.
SAVIDGE: Amidst 168 chairs representing people who died in the building, 54 belonged to mothers; 19 smaller ones represent children. But all of them represent a mother's child.
MARA HENRY: The people that come out and maybe lost mothers or lost children, this -- it helps to heal, to see that so many people are still caring about what happened six years ago.
SAVIDGE: Entire families visit here, sometimes spanning generations and sparking conversations with a child, trying to explain what this place is.
HEATHER BELLOWS: I said they build kind of a park and an area that people can come and remember that time that -- people that were killed.
SAVIDGE: There are messages to be found here, and ones left behind, like this one by 12-year-old Ryan Cobble.
RYAN COBBLE: We will never forget the tragedy, but we will always grow stronger.
SAVIDGE: 30 children were made orphans by the explosion; 219 children lost one parent or another. JULIE RANDOL: I hurt for them. I just hope those families have a faith in God that can get them through, because the Bible tells us there is a peace that passes all understanding. And I think that is only thing that can make life worth living after something like this: that peace, that you know there's something more than just this life. And that they will see their loved ones again.
SAVIDGE: Memorial officials will tell you Mother's Day traditionally is no different than any other day here. Visitors to this place might disagree.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: There have been a lot of people visiting the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial today, and a lot of those people are in groups of families. There has also been a number of victims' family members that have been slowing up.
They are obvious when they visit because they are the only ones allowed to actually walk on the grass and approach the chair that represents their loved one.
Tom Kite lost a daughter in the explosion. I was speaking to him, and he admits, that days like today and holidays are very difficult for him. But he also says that year after year, it gets a little bit easier -- Donna.
KELLEY: Martin Savidge from Oklahoma City, thanks.
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