In 2002, I visited the site of the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial in downtown Oklahoma City and I was so touched by what I saw there that, as a songwriter, I felt compelled to put my thoughts down on paper on the plane ride back to Maryland. After I got home, I created the melody for the song. The result: "Too Many Chairs."

Each of the 168 empty golden chairs on the lawn represents a person who died in the bombing on April 19, 1995. The small chairs represent the 19 children who lost their lives that day and, as you stare at the chairs, you experience gut-wrenching emotions which bring you back to the very day the tragedy took place.

For the survivors, this is a cemetery where they come every April 19 to visit their loved ones, attend a church service, and place flowers at their loved one's chair. The chairs are lined up to designate the floor on which the deceased were on when the bombing took place. This is an extremely thoughtful and personal memorial which respects the dead and their survivors. Everyone I know who has visited the Memorial was touched dramatically like I was.

Across the water from the chairs is an 80-year old elm tree which survived the blast and which is now known as the "Survivor Tree." This is the part of the memorial which encourages us to carry on and to have hope for the future.

If you're ever in or near Oklahoma City , I recommend a visit to this great Memorial.