The Oklahoma City Festival of the Arts began Tuesday with gray clouds and rain in the forecast.  The art show has gone on every year since 1967.  Every year except 1995 that is.

The Murrah Bombing happened on April 19, 1995 and I find it hard to believe that it has been thirteen years since the horrible event.  The Festival of the Arts was scheduled to begin shortly after the bombing but the city fathers wisely called off the event.

Every year I try to attend the week-long happening at least once.  The art is expensive but the food court is wonderful.  They also sell commemorative tee shirts and I almost always purchase one for my collection.

The other day while rummaging through a drawer I noticed a tee shirt that I hadn’t worn in quite some time, maybe never.  It was the Festival of the Arts shirt from 1995.  I had purchased it in 1996, never sold from the previous year because the event never occurred.

Today, as I gaze out my window at a cloudy sky and think about heading toward the City for an Indian Taco and a new tee shirt, I realize that life is a complex mixture of bitter and sweet, and that sometimes objects meant to commemorate celebrations become reminders of something quite different.

http://www.ericwilder.com