Tulsa's bridge is falling down

I was so sad a couple of days ago when my I-phone news update reported that Riverside Drive in Tulsa will be shut down this weekend for demolition of the 21^st street pedestrian bridge.  Apparently, the 78 year old bridge is in need of major repair for safety reasons and with the upcoming “A Gathering Place” project it was decided to tear it down rather than replace it.

Now, I know it is just a bridge.  But if you have ever been in Tulsa and had the opportunity to walk the River Parks path, you will remember this bridge.  Joe and I actually considered getting married on that bridge because it holds a special place in our hearts.  It was on that bridge that we walked hand in hand a few weeks after meeting each other and it was on that bridge that I fell in love with Joe and with Tulsa.  The view from the bridge of downtown Tulsa and the Arkansas River, especially at sunset is awesome.

We crossed that bridge several times a week when we first moved to Tulsa and were fortunate enough to live right along the river and access the path across the street that led to the bridge.  It was the ultimate place to sit for a while and just talk, or people watch.  Sometimes the river was full and flowing, and other times the river was full of islands created when the water flow was not sufficient to cover from bank to bank.

For Joe, the River Bridge is a part of his childhood.  Growing up in the Tulsa Children’s home, he has fond memories of going down to the bridge.  When he was older and in the Tulsa Boys home, they were given the freedom to go where they wanted at times and Joe was drawn to the river and to the bridge because for him it symbolized a stability that his life certainly had not had.  Whatever happened in his life, he knew the river would always be there.  He was even awarded a certificate at one point when he was Boy of the Month that said he owned 1 inch of the bridge. He still has that certificate.  I wish we could go and take one inch of the bridge home with us as a souvenir. 

Just like that song that says You don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone, I know that after this weekend, every time I drive down Riverside Drive my heart will be sad when the bridge is no longer there.  When I drive down that street now and pass that bridge, the memories always flood back…that 1^st kiss at sunset, riding bikes across the bridge with Chris and Juliet and Joe and laughing because Chris and Joe ha pink bikes (free bike rental at the park).  I will think of walking Puggy and Layla across the bridge and how much fun it was to show my niece and nephew and sister the bridge the Thanksgiving they came to visit.  I will recall the day I stood looking out on the river in complete awe of God’s handiwork as the river and the sun and the ducks and the breeze created a perfect peace in my soul.

I would love to go and walk that bridge one last time but the parking lot is closed and the access blocked and its 6 degrees wind chill outside.  I wish I had taken more photos of the bridge.  I have many from the bridge.  As the past gives way to the future, I am glad that I was able to experience an integral part of Tulsa if even for a few years. 

Just like life, the river will continue to flow and bring with it changes.  The birds will have find a new place to land and search for leftover crumbs.  The fishermen will have to find a new place to cast their lines.  The parents will have to find a new special place to show their children.  High School kids will have to find a new backdrop for their Senior pictures.  And the generations that follow will find other places to walk hand and hand and fall in love with their future spouse.  A man will have to put the 50 years of memories of that bridge in his heart. 

“there used to be a bridge there when I was a boy, Grandpa Joe will say to his grandchild someday… it was my favorite place to go to view the world.”