Thankful

Wednesday morning, I was awakened at 5:15, to the sounds of the tornado sirens. The boys and I spent the first 30 minutes of our morning in the main bathroom of our house until the threat had passed. The storm had already done quite a bit of damage, and the meteorologists were predicting for it to get worse later in the day. The rest of the day I waited for the bad weather to reach us, checking the weather channel's website frequently, and keeping the television on the local news station. Most of the day's weather ranged from sunny to overcast, with no real inclement weather. I was especially relieved when David had made it home before the bad weather had arrived.I was preparing his supper while we watched the local news, as they reported the weather. As we were watching, someone called the station to report that a tornado had touched down in Tuscaloosa (only about 45 minutes from where we live). They pulled up their tower cam in Tuscaloosa, and we watched live, as a massive tornado swept across the city, until they lost the feed from the camera. It was so ominous, and they estimated that it was around a half a mile wide. It was one of the most terrifying things I have ever seen.

After supper was finished, I sat down at the computer to check weather.com and look at pictures of tornadoes that had struck nearby Cullman earlier in the day. They were so fantastic, they looked as if they had been photo-shopped. Then I heard as the weatherman announced that the tornado that had struck Tuscaloosa was still a tornado and was headed our way! ( I have to admit, at this point I was pretty scared. Tornadoes have always been one of my biggest fears, and something that has plagued my nightmares since I was a child) I took the boys and went into the bathroom and David joined us in there. We hadn't sat in there long before the power went out. A little while later, David said he thought it had passed. I wasn't so sure, but I wasn't about to sit in the pitch black bathroom by myself.

The rest of the night we were without power. David texted me early the next morning to tell me to go pick up some ice and try to salvage some of our food. I was disappointed when I realized that without power, I wouldn't be able to have my morning coffee. I also was not thrilled that I was going to have to go into the attic to get our cooler, especially once it occurred to me that I would be doing so in the dark. Right after I had gotten the cooler down from the attic, the power came back on.

It wasn't until we had power and internet again that I realized how close the tornado had come to us. As I watched videos of the mile wide tornado sweep through downtown Birmingham and looked at photos of the devastation it caused in Tuscaloosa, I just cried and cried. That could easily have been us and our home. I am so thankful that my family and our home is unharmed. My heart breaks for all of those who lost their homes and who's loved ones did not survive.