Most hand out pamphlets that explain the symbolism behind its sloping hill of 168 empty chairs and its golden gates that mark the minutes before and after the blast. But even now when she works in the museum, she said, she enjoys a strange peace. It unsettles outsiders. I guess they think it was such a traumatic event that I'd never want to be back or be reminded. It's part of who I am now.
Survivors also volunteer to be near other docents.
For example, Ms. Dooley graduated from Carl Albert High School with Jeannine Gist's daughter, Karen Gist Carr, who died in the bombing. Ms. Dooley knows that her former classmate worked in the Army recruiting office, and remembers how Ms. Gist Carr loved aerobics and her Volkswagen Scirocco. The couple do not need a museum full of television news film or newspaper clippings to help them grieve, Ms. Gist said. There are rooms they avoid. But as docents, they might work alongside Ms. Dooley, or someone else who knew their daughter and still misses her.