Author: Aletha Cress Oglesby, M.D.

As a family physician, I explore the HEART of HEALTH in my work, recreation, community, and through writing. My blog, Watercress Words, informs and inspires us to live in health. I believe we can turn our health challenges into healthy opportunities. When we do, we can share the HEART of health with our families, communities, and the world. Come explore and share with me.

How the Oklahoma City Bombing Changed Four Women’s Lives

The 24th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing was marked on April 19, 2019. 168 people died, and hundreds were injured, changing the state and the nation forever. The memorial and museum tell stories of hope, including a bombing survivor who became a doctor, and three women who studied trauma and helped survivors worldwide.

updated April 10, 2026

April 19, 2019 marked the 24th anniversary of the terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Oklahoma City is the capital of my home state and was my home for 7 years while I attended medical school and completed my residency in Family Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

From the bombing, 168 people died, hundreds were injured, and our state and our nation were changed forever. Never had there been such an act of horror and carnage on U.S. soil.

I’ve written here about the bombing and showed you pictures from the site which is now a memorial and museum. I’m doing that again but this time with news about 4 women who have turned the event into something positive.

OKLAHOMA CITY NATIONAL MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM

A child survived to become a doctor

Madison Naylor was among the infants being cared for at the YMCA daycare located next door to the federal building at the time the bomb exploded. The building was heavily damaged but she and the other children survived.

“I remember when I was very young, I had a feeling that I had been really close to death, …I hope I can be something good that came from something so horrific.”

Madison Naylor, bombing survivor
some of the memorials hung on the fence that surrounded the bombing site have been left intact.

Madison grew up learning about the bombing and medicine. Her father and aunt are both physicians. She was a medical student at my alma mater, the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. She graduated and is now a pediatrician in Oklahoma City.

“I know the bombing is still a part of people’s lives here. It’s humbling to be associated with such a tragic event. I hope that I can be a positive face going forward.”

Madison Naylor, medical student

The SURVIVOR TREE remained standing when everything around it was destroyed by the bomb. It survives to this day.

“I just want to be the kind of person who leaves the world a better place than I found it.”

Madison Naylor, MS1

TILES PAINTED BY CHILDREN FROM AROUND THE WORLD AND DONATED TO THE MUSEUM ARE DISPLAYED AT THE ENTRANCE

Doctors who treated and studied the survivors

The bombing changed not only Oklahoma City, but also our state and our entire country. It was the worst terrorist event on U.S. soil until 9/11. All of us were touched in some way, but especially three women who worked in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.

“None of us was thinking about studying disasters…But we kept studying …the Oklahoma City survivors over the years..Then started helping with disasters elsewhere.”

Betty Pfefferbaum, M.D., J.D. department chairman
This window in the museum overlooks the memorial.

Dr. Pfefferbaum, along with colleagues Phebe Tucker, M.D., and Sandra Allen, Ph.D. treated and studied trauma victims from the bombing and shared their findings with other doctors who use it to treat survivors around the world.

They are all still active clinically and in teaching.

Lessons learned from the OKC disaster trauma

  • Disasters affect many different groups of people beyond those at the site-family, first responders, the community
  • Terrorism victims have higher than average rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression than people who never experienced it.
  • Some people develop a biological response to disaster causing a higher resting heart rate than those not affected.

Dr. Allen developed an intervention to help children of trauma process their thoughts and feelings. Sometimes children think they have to hide their feelings or act out when they are hurting. This program helps them process those feelings and learn how to cope.

At a church across the street from the memorial

The work has rippled out into the world in ways that none of them could have imagined…

OU Medicine magazine
Words written on the wall of the former Journal Record Building which sat across from the federal building. These words, painted by a rescue team who searched for survivors that day, remain as a silent witness of the horrible event.
photos in this post taken by Dr. Aletha in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Thanks to OU Magazine and KFOR for sharing these stories.

Exploring the HEART of health

I’d love for you to follow this blog. I share information and inspiration to help you transform challenges into opportunities for learning and growth.

Add your name to the subscribe box to be notified of new posts by email. Click the link to read the post and browse other content. It’s that simple. No spam.

I enjoy seeing who is new to Watercress Words. When you subscribe, I will visit your blog or website. Thanks and see you next time.

Dr. Aletha

“lemons into lemonade”

I am delighted that Janice Wald, author and blogger at Mostly Bloggging, called this her “favorite post ” when I submitted it to her Inspire Me Monday Linky Party. Please visit Janice’s blog where you can learn about writing, blogging, productivity, marketing, and more.


It isn’t often that I see news-related posts left here and even rarer that, when I do, they are so inspirational. The post really exemplifies the expression, “Turn lemons into lemonade.”

Janice Wald, Mostly Blogging

Why Handel’s Messiah Is More Than a Christmas Classic

Did you know Handel’s “Messiah,” usually linked to Christmas, was originally intended for Easter, drawing from Old and New Testament scriptures. Tdditionally, Handel’s father was a barber-surgeon, medieval surgeons also cut hair.

updated April 3, 2025

Handel’s masterpiece-Messiah 

Even though Messiah tells the story of Jesus, whose life unfolds in the Bible’s New Testament, many of the lyrics come from the Old Testament, like this passage from Psalms. Several Isaiah passages referring to Jesus are also lyrics for music in Messiah.

lightstock_254158_medium_aletha

Gates, proudly lift your heads!

Open, ancient doors, the glorious King will come in.

Who is the glorious King? He is the Lord, the powerful soldier.

He is the Lord, the war hero.

Gates, proudly lift your heads!

Open, ancient doors, and the glorious King will come in.

Who is the glorious King?

The Lord All-Powerful is the glorious King.

Psalm 24:7-10, ERV

© 1987, 2004 Bible League InternationalLearn More About Holy Bible: Easy-to-Read Version

 

Handel-A doctor who cut hair

Handel’s father, Georg Handel, was a barber-surgeon, a term for physicians in the Middle Ages who performed operations and cut hair. Surgery was primitive and dangerous due to no anesthesia and no antibiotics to treat infection. Most surgery was done to treat war injuries. 

For centuries, surgery was a craft rather than a profession, and it was often practiced by barbers. In fact, up until the time of Sweeney Todd, a London resident would commonly visit a barber-surgeon for the treatment of a health problem.

Besides providing grooming services, barber-surgeons regularly performed dental extractions, bloodletting, minor surgeries and sometimes amputations.

pbs.com

Is Messiah for Christmas or Easter?

We usually associate  Messiah with Christmas, but Handel wrote it to be performed at Easter. For the lyrics, he used words from Scripture, choosing passages that tell the story of God sending Jesus to earth to redeem His people.

This article at Smithsonian.com explains how a surgeon’s son became a musician instead of a lawyer.

The Glorious History of Handel’s Messiah

a hymnal opened to the word Alleluia, with a tulip lying above

Let scripture DWELL in you

Many people find using their phones a convenient way to read and meditate on the Bible. And it’s easy to do so with the Dwell Bible App.

With Dwell you can listen to and read the Bible and special devotional offerings for Advent, Lent, and throughout the year.

Using this affiliate link helps support this blog and my mission to share the heart of health wherever needed all over the world. Please join me.

exploring the HEART of health

I’d love for you to follow this blog. I share information and inspiration to help you transform challenges into opportunities for learning and growth.

Add your name to the subscribe box to be notified of new posts by email. Click the link to read the post and browse other content. It’s that simple. No spam.

I enjoy seeing who is new to Watercress Words. When you subscribe, I will visit your blog or website. Thanks and see you next time.

Dr. Aletha

Here is another Messiah story from my archives.

words for Lent – Good news

And before anyone can go and tell them, they must be sent. As the Scriptures say, “How wonderful it is to see someone coming to tell good news!”Messiah selections from the New Testament

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