Tulsa Woman Discusses Losing Her Grandmother In OKC Bombing

By Jeffrey Smith, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- Monday was the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. The young children who lost loved ones in the attack are now all grown up. 

For the first time, a young woman who lost her grandmother in the bombing is speaking out.

4/18/2010  Related Story: Survivors, Families Observing Anniversary Of The Murrah Bombing

Vanessa Thompson was in third grade during the bombing. Now, she's pursuing her dream career at a Tulsa business. Many kids who lost parents or grandparents in the bombing say they walk a fine line everyday of their lives.

Thompson lost her grandmother in the bombing and she says she also lost her sense of self.

"It changed my childhood. I, in a sense, lost my innocence at the age of nine," said Thompson.

Thompson says her grandma was her best friend and baking cookies with her and feeding the ducks in the park are some of her favorite childhood memories. 

Virginia Thompson was on the third floor at the time of the attack.

"It's hard knowing that this is the particular day that you lose somebody you love," said Thompson.

Over the years, we've shared moments of heartbreak and reflection with Thompson's father, Phillip, but never with Thompson, until now. She says the dark cloud of April 19th shaped her teenage years, and transformed her relationship with her dad.

"It made us stronger, because we had a similar loss. Although, I sometimes feel that his was greater, because it was his mom. But at the same time, we grieve together, a lot," said Thompson.

Now, Thompson is a college grad and is in the first few years of a blossoming career. She's trying to move on with her life. In fact, she requested we not reveal where she works as part of this story.

"It's one of those things, though it is something that has built me as a person, or I should say has defined my history. I don't want it to define me," said Thompson.

She says it's a delicate balancing act, between living in the present and remembering the past.

Thompson says one way she keeps her grandma's memory alive is by baking cookies for her dad around the holidays. She says they're good, but nowhere near as good as grandma used to make them.

Fifteen Years: A Living Timeline
The bombing of Oklahoma City's Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building changed our city and nation forever. Experience the events of April 19, 1995, and the fifteen years since that fateful day. >>View the Timeline