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Always Remember Them
I was listening to the radio today when it asked, “What were you doing 11 years ago today?” I remember…do you?
Eleven years ago I was 8 months pregnant, and spent the day at home with my two toddlers…actually, with one toddler and a baby (Nick was 3, Lindsay was 16 months old). We spent the day as we usually did, watching Nick Jr. I rarely changed the channel in those days, I was tired and willing to let Nick watch his stuff all day. Ben came home from work around 5, and asked, “Why aren’t you watching the news?” This, of course, was before we had cell phones, etc, and I hadn’t talked to him all day….I hadn’t talked to any adults. I was clueless. Ben turned the channel to news, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had no idea….this is when I decided that children’s programming really should run a scrolly thing at the bottom for us poor house-bound moms, something I still don’t think they do.
What am I talking about, some of you may be asking? Today is the 11th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, still one of the most horrible things that’s happened in my lifetime, in my opinion. 9/11 was horrible, don’t get me wrong, I cried for a solid month afterwards…but at least it was strangers who did that. Oklahoma City happened because of one of our own…to me that makes it that much more horrible.
The next day I, along with millions of other people, was horrified to see this picture in my paper.
This beautiful child, Baylee Almon, died because of one idiot…this girl who was close to the age of my own daughter. This innocent baby, who had just turned a year old.
But I did get something good out of the death of this beautiful little girl.
Remember, I was 8 months pregnant. With a baby girl. We still hadn’t picked out a name. We decided to name our baby Baylee, to honor this poor child who died in this awful event. So, my daughter has a beautiful, special name, one I never would have thought of if not for this awful event. To me, it’s made her, our Baylee, into a very special person, a girl with a special name, with a special namesake. Here’s our Baylee today…she’ll be 11 at the end of May.
Always remember.
Great coverage here.
An absolutely fabulous tribute can be found here.
Technorati tags:Oklahoma City Bombing, Baylee Almon, April 19, 1995
What a beautiful daughter you have! It warms my soul that you named her after little Baylee who died in the Oklahoma City bombing. That was an awful day. I didn’t know about it until later in the day myself – because of work, I didn’t have any access to the outside world while I was at work way back then.
I was in Oklahoma City the previous weekend, visiting John. (he was at Ft. Sill, but we would meet in OKC about once a month back when we were dating.) One of his co-workers at Ft. Sill lost his wife in the bombing. It was awful, terrible, horrible.
What a special name to have and a beutiful story. I just drove past the largest flag ever, flying from a fire engine in a small town cemetary. Oklahoma will never forget & neither will anyone.
does she know about her namesake or are you waiting until shes older? It was a horrible day. its a nice thing you did, and a beautiful name. Its good to remember even though it hurts.
Glorious Girlchild was only a few days old and we were living in our small one bedroom apartment. Hubby was home with me at the time, thank GOD!
It’s so hard to look at that picture. And so nice to know that your family is honoring her memory…
I remember that day vividly. I can’t believe it’s been 11 years! I was visiting my sister in Colorado, and was alone in her apartment all day while she was at school. I saw this on tv when the news broke, then sat & cried all day.
What an absolutely beautiful way to honor not only that little child but all those who lost their lives or their loved ones that day. Your Baylee is beautiful and her name is perfect for her.
Yes, I remember that day all too well. One daughter was in first grade, and the other was in preschool, and I was ironing (of all things) and watching t.v. when the news broke. I responded in much the same way as I did on 9/11 – I wanted to drive to school to pick up both girls and give them a huge hug, and bring them back home where it was safe.
Thanks for sharing your story. I had wondered how your Bayee had gotten her name, and now I know. I had remembered the name from the picture, but I didn’t realize you had named your daughter after that little girl. What a wonderful gesture on your part.
Oops, sorry that I mistyped Baylee’s name!
that sure puts life into perspective – and what a beautiful tribute to the little angel who lost her life and all the lives along with her. I am sure your Baylee has many angels smiling down upon her.
I know this is much later to respond to. My father is visiting Oklahoma City and has sent me pictures of the memorial. It truely is a peaceful memorial, very beautiful. I too named my daughter Baylee, after that sweet lil angel, whose life was only beginning when it was all too quickly taken away. My grandfather (who also has passed) was a firefighter. When I look at that picture it means so many things to me. I like to think that like this little girl was being taken care of by a fireman, that my grandfather is looking down on his own little Baylee from heaven. May all of our children be forever protected by their guardian angels.
My name has always been special,my mom told me how I got my name.I couldn’t believe what she told me about baby Baylee.I feel very special now that I have a special name like this one.My mom said she saw baby Baylee in the paper.She died the same year I was born and died 3 days before my birth.Now I feel so special to tell the story of my name.
God bless little Baylee.
My name is Baylee and I am named after this little Baylee Almon. My mother told me the story when i was around ten and i didnt really understand it at the time. but i do now. and i think that it is truly amazing that i have such a story to tell just by one thing tht is apart of me (my name). i love my name and its so special in so many ways. I too feel special tht i have a special opportunity to tell a story of my name.
May God watch over Baylee’s family and everybody else.