Different arrangements lined the walls and windows. The place smelled like a flower shop in the spring. Those flowers helped more than 14,000 people forget that basketball is usually played inside Gallagher-Iba’s new walls.

If it wasn’t for students walking to classes, the 21,000-student campus sitting on hundreds of acres in the middle of the Oklahoma prairie could have been mistaken for a ghost town.

As the wind crept across the sprawling campus, not even the sound of flapping orange ribbons adorning trees and light poles across the campus could be heard.

Even as thousands of mourners — students, parents, administration, faculty and those left behind by a tragic plane crash that took 10 members of the Oklahoma State family — slowly filtered past a flower-adorned Spirit Rider, everything was quiet.

All you could hear was the painful sound of silence.And so a campus mourned.

Families of victims, friends and family poured into the newly-remodeled Gallagher-Iba Arena to join each other in mourning, celebration and reflection, in an outpouring not seen since OSU fans entered the storied building nearly 10 years ago to pay homage to legendary Coach Henry P. Iba.

“This is one of the greatest assemblies of caring people in the 110-year history of this university,” OSU President James Halligan said, as he looked out into the massive crowd that had come to honor its fallen Cowboys.

That’s what “the 10” deserved. And that’s also what “the 10” got.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson added a national perspective to the controversy when he protested the execution of Wanda Allen, the first black woman executed in Oklahoma since 1903. Jackson visited Oklahoma twice to protest Allen’s execution, advocating a legal delay, and spent a night in Mabel Bassett Correctional Center in Oklahoma City for trespassing.

We live on this planet off of borrowed time. For some of us, that time is shorter than it is for others, and it is up to us as individuals to make the most of the time we are given.

When the unspeakable does happen, we can only put our faith in God, knowing that what transpired has happened for a reason.

I cannot say that I personally knew any of the individuals involved in the plane crash. I did not know these people, but in a sense, I did — if you can understand that statement.

I knew Bill Teegins through his play-by-play announcements. I also knew Nate Fleming and Dan Lawson because they were you and me, they were students at OSU. I probably saw them many times before, walking to class or just hanging out. I only did not know it was them.

This is just the same as many of you have seen me, only not knowing it. I, as they, are just students.

We are all the same, part of the same family, we belong to Oklahoma State University. It is a common bond that ties us all together. I feel for all the families involved in the accident: Will Hancock, Pat Noyes, Jared Weiberg, Brian Luinstra, Bill Teegins, Nate Fleming, Dan Lawson, Kendall Durfey, Bjorn Fahlstrom and Denver Mills. They were all members of our family, as well as their own.

Charlie was a man I looked up to and admired. He was ill and we were all expecting his death, but his passing still had a profound effect on me. I’m sorry to say I was not as close to him as I would have liked, but I, as well as others who knew him, had a deep respect for a man I would like to emulate.

Many students, alumni, friends, teammates and overall supporters gathered together in order to serve one single purpose — to help one another.

Radio listeners can tune into game coverage at KGFY-FM 105.5 in Stillwater.

While Wednesday’s memorial service may have helped Oklahoma State University and supporters cope with the pain brought on by the tragic Jan. 27 plane crash, many will never forget where they were when they first heard the news.

Many people spoke before a sea of orange and black supporters, some quoted Bible scriptures and others shared some of their fondest memories of those lost in Saturday’s plane crash.

Luinstra was working for Wichita State University as an assistant trainer when he was offered a job in the OSU Athletics Department.

It didn’t erase any hurt. It did not stop the grief. But it was a little comforting.