Two years. It's hard to believe that two years ago today, my little family was forced to start anew. I remember huddling in the tiny linen closet at my mother's with my daughter, praying that the tornado-reported just a couple of miles away-would miss us. I remember my husband telling me that Walnut Street (the road we lived on) was gone. Just...gone. Everything was destroyed. And I remember thanking the Gods that none of us were down there when it hit. Possessions could be (and were) replaced. But my family? Never.
I remember later that night, looking down at my two week old baby girl, crying because it was (in my mind) her who saved us. Had she not had been born, I would have been down there during it all. And I probably wouldn't have survived. Who would have known that not one, but TWO tornadoes would have traveled down in a small valley? I mean, they teach you growing up that the safest place during a tornado is down low, mainly in valleys. Boy were they wrong.
Two years. While looking at the destruction, it is heartbreaking. Nearly everything we had ever owned, stuff collected over a twenty-one year time period, was scattered with the wind. Toys, movies, electronics, pictures, clothes. Just gone in a single moment. But most of those things were easily replaced. Including the home. And, in my opinion, I think we really upgraded.
Let this serve as a lesson to all. Tornadoes can happen anywhere, even in valleys. It just takes the right ingredients in a powerful storm to make a sunny day turn bleak. Know where to go in case of these king of things. If you have a basement, pick a spot that is safest and prepare it. Stock up on food, water and stuff. Just in case. Because you never know when you'll need it.
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