Wake Up Call

This is not a picture of the tornado that struck just miles from our house last night. There aren't any pictures of that. It was 2:30 a.m. The sirens didn't go off until he worst was over. Reports say that it went from cloud-cloud to full blown funnel cloud in less than four mintues. Flat. This photo was actually taken of the tornado that hit my hometown of Kearney, where much of our family lives, just a few weeks ago. It actually broke into about six little tornados before it hit town, which is likley what saved the city from any deaths or injuries.

Now, back to the wee hours of morning this morning. Bill and I certainly didn't earn "Parents of the Year Award". The wind and torrential rains did wake us from our blessed sleep. Enough for me to mumble, "that sounds awful...do you think we ought to go downstairs?" and Bill to mumble back, "no sirens...it's okay." And me to respond, "okay." And then we fell back to sleep as the tornado struck miles from our house.

The thing is, we woke up this morning, sloshed around in our backyard, and didn't really realize he gravity of the situation until Camille's friend's mother called and asked if it was still okay if he came over to play or if we had major clean-up to do. She proceeded to talk about the time in the basement, how scared her son was, and how she was off to buy extra flashlights, a cordless radio, and a phone that isn't cordless. And what was running through my what-seemed-at-the -time-like-a-peanut-sized brain? "We needed to be in the basement? There was a tornado? What sirens?" But of course I didn't say that. She was about to entrust her 5-year-0ld to me for two hours.

And then came the pictures on the news tonight. The damage was actually restricted to a pretty small area of the metro. But, nonetheless, roofs were torn from houses, trees were uprooted and split in twos and threes and fours and a few families lost everything but their lives and each others.

And all I could think was, "What if it would have been us?" "What if I hadn't gotten the girls safe?"

And I am sure that every night for the rest of my life that I awaken to the sounds of wind and rain, I will be sitting up with a start to see what I need to do to keep my family safe.