Oklahoma City was an outstanding
rodeo! Especially to when Bobby Welsh finished it off with a win in the Bull
Riding! Oklahoma had great
hospitality and took us on many adventures to get to know the town. The first night we went to the Oklahoma
City Bombing Memorial and saw where the Federal Building once stood. It is a very peaceful place now, but it
still angers me that someone could be that selfish to hurt so many people and
their families, especially babies in the nursery. We saw the tree of hope and the empty chairs that were
lit up in honor of everyone that was lost that day wishing many blessings over
their families for such a traumatic loss.
The
next day we visited the Oklahoma Capital and we sat in on their legislative
session. I met a really nice guy
by the name of David Sykes; his son is in the Senate and works a lot for the
Agriculture Committees. I was able
to get to know him and his friend that stop in about once a week. I gave them tickets to come watch the
RNCFR and noticed that there was something very special about David. He was a very friendly, informed, older
man, with hearing aids, always chatting and getting to know everyone. His friend sitting next to me informed
me that he was a survivor of the Oklahoma City Bomb. He therefore had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and wore
hearing aids due to the bomb that day.
David explained to me that he was a mailman and that is what he was
doing in the building that day. He
said he could have been in five other locations when the bomb went off but
luckily he had finished early and was just leaving when it happened. He told me he felt like he was in a
nightmare and that after leaving the hospital he had to take a long hot shower
to get all of the debris off of his skin.
I am so grateful I was able to meet David because he made the trip so
special and memorable.
We
also visited the Veterans Hospital and made many visits throughout. One of the patients had lost his leg
recently and was mourning a little bit about his loss. We ended up talking and I explained to
him that my dad also had one leg, and he began to decide it wasn’t so bad, just
something to get used to. He then
sang me a song, one of my favorites, Ave Maria! I told him that music is the best medicine and he said that
is because it comes from the Spirit and the Spirit comes from God, so he will
never feel alone. Many of these
Veterans are so lonely and hurt; this made me aware of the sacrifices they have
given up to ensure MY freedom. I
am so glad the sport of rodeo takes patriotism so seriously. Rodeo is such an American Sport and
throughout history and today our military has secured that. God Bless America!!!!
After
many public appearances and getting the word out about the rodeo, it was time
to get to work. We carried sponsor
flags, worked the front door, and attended production meetings to be ready for
the rodeo. Bronc Rumford supplied
our horses and brought me big strawberry roan by the name of Big Ben. Big Ben was a little green, but never
let it show. He was a perfect
gentleman and we worked together to promote the sponsors of the PRCA and the
RNCFR. Bronc Rumford really is an
exceptional man. He worked with
each one of the girls to help improve their horsemanship skills and make them
aware of what was the best way to get along with the horse they had been
assigned. I really appreciate his
time and talent and cannot wait to run into him later along the road.
