We made it to Oklahoma and had a hugely successful day yesterday with the super cool kids of Briarwood Elementary at their brand-spanking new school. It just so happened to be “Wacky Wednesday” and the kids were decked out in crazy hair, mix-matched shoes, and all around upsides down fashion. It made for a great day of class photos! Everybody remembered us and gave us a very warm welcome!
The school’s adjacent neighborhoods that were nearly leveled to the ground last year were budding with new homes everywhere. Still many empty lots and many more homes still under construction or repair, but Moore is getting back on it’s feet, slowly but surely.
Inside the school proudly hung a battered and bruised American Flag that they dug out of the rubble intact. Something about it gave a solemn and serious pause. Below it read “Proudly flown at Briarwood from 1988 to 2013.”
One of the remarkable things we have learned in doing Photohoku and Photoklahoma is how sometimes disaster rubble can actually be a very sturdy foundation for a kind of strength, resolve and community that maybe has been lost on us many of us bustling through life without having faced loosing it all. It’s hard to explain precisely, but it’s easy to recognize me easier to feel. A great reminder to appreciate all we have and not take for granted our time.
Today brings another day in Moore, this time at the new campus of Plaza Towers Elementary making class photos and inviting kids out for our family photo album workshop/event tonight and then again on Saturday. Wish is luck!
