I Guess We're Veterans Now?

I'm hoping to have a chance to go out and take a few photos later today showing the tornado damage from yesterday afternoon that destroyed two neighborhoods just three miles from my home. It is sad, yes, and frustrating for those who are spending their day trying to pick up the pieces, including the neighbors immediately next door to my daughter's classmate. Their home was completely leveled while our friend's sustained only a gnarled garage door. But I guess I just viewed it as typical drill for our area until I saw homes I distinctly recognize on national news this morning.

Thankfully, no one in our town lost their life. Not so where another twister touched down two hours south of here where another of my friends lives. (She was the "other K." mentioned in my last post.) Crazy evening, for sure. Although, we were blissfully ignorant of just how close our home came from feeling the fury. (We were directly in the path but it apparently lifted soon after all the damage you might be seeing on the network shows.) I was several miles away in what I've long considered one of the very safest locations in our entire town of 80,000. I couldn't watch TV or a computer or listen to the radio because I was responsible, along with three other adults, for keeping about 30 kids calm and obedient while we took cover. Since they were blissfully ignorant as well (of the proximity of the tornado, not that there WAS one), they all but one stayed calm. We even had fun with endless games of "I Spy." And I knew my own children were being well protected nearby. It's funny, but throughout what was obviously sort of a big deal, my family was completely distracted by our own personal traumas that had marked the day. Our dog, the first real pet ever for our family was diagnosed with a serious health issue and some other deeply emotional stuff had taken place earlier. So it was very good that we never heard the direction of the tornado's location announced. It surely would have been too much. We would've worried when it turned out to be fine.

It reminded me of how out-of-the- loop we felt concerning the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, despite living only 15 miles away and knowing friends of victims and rescue workers. We were too engulfed in the death of my father-in-law a week earlier to recognize the magnitude of the proximity of such a huge event. We probably processed it much more like someone saddened to watch it on TV somewhere in another state. Except this morning, there were roads shut down and all talk is focused on "the tornadoes." Our church was open last night as a safe haven for folks who had lost their home or power to keep their homes heated. We went up to see what we could do to help, but there were only 2 families. They seemed a little shell-shocked, but surprisingly calm and friendly as well. You just never know what a day will bring!