Remembering to be thankful.

April 27th of this year is a day we try not to think about too much, but this week I have, because it is the day mine, my daughter's and the lives of my neighbors were spared. It's still very hard to go into to detail, but the summary is that a tornado hit us. A monster. I was listening to the TV and so many had missed us, that I foolishly believed this one would too. As James Spann, the newscaster from Birmingham began to yell from the TV that a multi-vortex tornado was heading for the City of Cullman, I stood in awe watching the image on the TV, trying to figure out where it was from the clear image on the screen from a local tower cam. The weatherman thought it was north of my location, by sighting that it was passing near a local flea market. I was looking out my North window for it as he suddenly and excitedly changed the location: It was heading straight for us. Not only my town, but my house. I spun around to my living room window in just enough time to see the last of my neighbors (who thought we had already gone) speed up the street in their truck, and see the monster heading straight for us. In that minute I realized that I would not have enough time to get my already terrified daughter out of the hallway and into the truck before it hit, so I went to the hallway with her, covered her with my body and told her it was here. It was terrifying to say the least to hear the world coming apart around us and not knowing if any minute the entire house would be torn from around us. Then it was gone. We went outside and everything had changed. Our neighbors were all returning and my daughter ran toward her friend and neighbor who she had grown up with for the past 7 years, and suddenly it registered: Their house was gone. Not just parts of it like the rest of us, but all of it. Not a stick of the home was left on the property. The full impact hit me. I was sorry for their loss, but so glad they decided to leave, but then also I realized that had it moved just a few meters, my daughter and I would be gone too.

Okay, that's about all I can take in telling right now. It was hard, and is still hard to remember. What did happen though, was in the week that followed, our neighbors, whom we had always loved, became our family. Yesterday evening I sat with my neighbor, Gloria in the living room of her new house, discussing the dinner that we would make to eat in her new dining room tomorrow. It made me smile when she happily said, "Now I have a dining room and space for everyone." She had lost every material possession, but has her family, and extended family. This year has taught us not to to be humble and not to complain as much. We lived without homes and power in destruction, but learned how much we all meant to each other. We are strong and most of all, THANKFUL!!