The 10^th Anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing is next week. There is a weeklong remembrance planned; people will gather and benefits will be held. Memories will be shared as survivors and rescue workers hug once again. But Oklahoma City will not be the only place where people will remember; many of them are right here in Grayson County and they remember Cindy Campbell Brown.

 

Brown had barely been at the Oklahoma City office of the Secret Service for six months on that fateful day – April 19, 1995 – but she was coming into her own as an agent. She had recently been married – to another agent Ron Brown – and had gotten the wedding pictures back. The couple liked them so much that they wanted additional prints.

 

Brown called Garner Brothers Photographers in Bells about 8:45 that morning but got the answering machine. After leaving a message, she continued work in her office. Within 15 minutes, the worst act of domestic terrorism to that date occurred at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building; Brown was one of the 168 victims of the blast.

 

“I’m like any parent who has lost a child. You never really get over it; you just live with it,” said Gary Campbell, of Sherman. “That’s what I do; but it leaves a big void in your heart.” He added that the 10 year anniversary is a milestone but it’s just another step in moving on.

 

“10 years? Sometimes it seems like a long time; but sometimes, it only seems like yesterday,” he said.

 

Campbell, retired from Oscar Mayer, said he wanted people to remember his daughter for the person she was.

 

“Cindy was a caring, concerned person who was committed to making a difference,” he began. “Those who knew her know she did that in the short time she had.” He added that Brown made a difference in the lives of many area young people. In addition to volunteering at Girls, Inc., Brown worked as a juvenile probation officer for Grayson County after graduating from Baylor University.

 

“She always had a great interest in young people; her first love was working with kids,” explained Campbell. “But she was proud to be a Secret Service agent, too.”

 

Bill Bristow remembers Brown as a hard working and caring individual in her three years at Grayson County Juvenile Services.

 

“We remember her smile and her warmth,” said Bristow, GCJS director. “She was here to protect and serve children. Her memory is still active; it’s where her heart was.” He added that the department still gets calls, ‘Let me talk to Cindy.’ and that’s refreshing. “They call back because they are doing well and they want to tell her,” said Bristow.

He agreed that the 10^th Anniversary was a milestone to remember. The department is replanting flowers in its memorial tree area dedicated to Brown’s memory; it should be ready for the anniversary.

 

“Looking at what we have gone through in these 10 years, I know she would have done her father and her county proud,” said Bristow. “Cindy was a strong participant in the protection of her country. I have no doubt she would have been successful.” The concept that ‘Time Heals All Wounds’ is appropriate, according to Bristow.

 

“The sadness has been taken over by the memory of all she contributed,” he explained. “The only sadness now knows that she can’t contribute what we all know she was capable of doing.”

 

The Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation is planning a “National Week of Hope” beginning Sunday with a Day of Faith. During the week, seedlings will be planted, speeches given, awards presented, first person accounts given at schools, concerts performed and worship services attended; all to inspire hope and remembrance of the tragedy that happened 10 years ago.

 

Campbell doesn’t plan to be in Oklahoma City all week but will go on Tuesday – the anniversary – just like he has every year.

 

“I go to meet with the families, rescue workers and survivors,” said Campbell. “We’ll have a small family reunion up there, too.” He noted that this 10^th anniversary will be the first one without some unfinished legal activities still pending.

 

“Terry Nichols (co-conspirator) was convicted and sentenced to 168 life sentences last year,” said Campbell. “It’s good to have all that lingering stuff behind us.” Timothy McVeigh was convicted and put to death in 2002 for his part in the bombing.

 

Campbell said it’s been ‘a shared experience’ with the families and survivors of the 2001 World Trade Center attacks during the past four years. But it’s all the good that has come from Cindy’s memory that is the most special, he added.

 

“The Sherman High School scholarship is given each May,” he said. “It’s a nice way to remember Cindy. It has kept her memory alive by helping someone else, which is the way she would want it to be.”

 

One of the recipients of the Cindy Campbell Brown Memorial Scholarship is now a sophomore at SMU. Sterling Morriss – who is the 2003 recipient – considers it “an honor” because it represents someone whom she admires.

 

“I am extremely honored to have received the scholarship,” said Morriss who is majoring in art history at the Dallas University. “Because of the woman Cindy was and what she meant to so many people.” Receiving the scholarship is even more meaningful because Morriss knew Cindy as a family friend growing up in Sherman.

 

“She was so good with people; she was cool and just a good family friend,” recalled Morriss. “I remember her passion for life. She was vivacious and caring; you just can’t say enough about her.”

Others remember Cindy Campbell including family members and former teachers.

 

Linda Campbell had moved back to Rantoul, Ill. during the 1990s but was still close to her daughter. She said for the first six years, she couldn’t stay away from Oklahoma City but in the past four, she can’t go there; at least not when others are around the memorial.

 

“It doesn’t get much easier; it’s still hard but I guess it’s gotten a little better,” said Linda in a telephone interview last week. “I’m absolutely so proud of who Cindy was and what she did. I take every opportunity to tell people who she was. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about her.”

 

Linda Campbell said she finds it difficult to be around big groups of people at the memorial. She prefers to be by herself and likes to go in the evening. It needs to be calm.

 

“I want to go see her and sit by her chair,” she related. “Right now, it’s still hard for me.” Once Linda Campbell moves past her own feelings, she is eager to talk of Cindy.

 

“Cindy was such a great girl; she was so happy,” began her mother. “She had everything going for her. Cindy was the typical girl next door who blossomed and did well. She was beautiful inside and out. I often wonder how she would be doing now.”

 

Former teachers and friends of the family often wonder the same thing. The time past isn’t what’s important; it’s the person, according to one of Cindy’s former teachers.

 

“I can’t believe it’s been 10 years; Cindy was such a sweet girl,” said Donneita Morriss, Sherman’s Piner Middle School choral director. “With all this time past, we just need to remind ourselves about her; and those other people from that day. We have to remember so we don’t let it happen again.” The key is to focus on the people and the individual memories those people create, she added.

 

“We should remember what Cindy stood for: giving to others and smiling often,” said Morriss. “That’s what she did every day. We need to do that every day; all of us.”

 

Morriss, who had just started her teaching career in the early 1980s, remembers having the happy and helpful young Campbell in class.

 

“She was always happy; always willing to lend a hand,” recalled Morriss. “Some students are self-centered. Cindy was never like that; she was always the first person to offer help no matter if she knew you or not.” Morriss added that Cindy’s early attitude shown through as she completed high school, college and worked with children and the Secret Service.

 

Michele Matlock, of Sherman, remembers Brown as a friend and a classmate. She graduated from SHS with Brown in 1987. They were cheerleaders together and Brown was even in Matlock’s wedding.

 

“I don’t remember her death; I remember her life,” said Matlock, a Pre-K teacher at Perrin Elementary School. “I was saddened at first because she didn’t get to experience the things of life. But since, I remember her enthusiasm for life.”

 

The 10^th anniversary of the bombing, among other things in life, brings Brown to Matlock’s mind. The yearly anniversary “definitely makes me think of her,” she added.

 

“I remember her energetic spirit and her smile; that’s what I want people to remember about Cindy,” continued Matlock. “That’s what I remember about her.”

 

With Cindy’s birthday on April 15, it compounds the loss for her father, Gary Campbell. It reminds him of his last conversation with his daughter on the night before the attack.

 

“It’s a tough time for me. I reflect a lot at this time of year,” said Gary Campbell. “But it’s a special time. I also remember all the people who were so gracious and kind to us. All their support is not forgotten. I wish I could reach out and tell them how much we appreciate them. It still means an awful lot to me and my family.”

 

For more information on the National Week of Hope, visit http://www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/.