So I've been crazy scared of Tornados since I lived in Alabama at age 10-14. While there, I was in 1 tornado warning (that means there is a tornado spotted close by) in 8th grade and I remember everyone hiding in the hallways of our late 1800's building out in the hallway with books over our heads, hearing the old windows in the classrooms rattle and break. It was dark, dreary and super scary.
Well, since then, I think I have a tornado dream every 2-3 weeks. So, in my lifetime, I feel like I've lived through a lot of tornados. Ones where I've been driving or out and about and spotted it and had to quickly take cover. When I was a teacher I'd have dreams of trying to get 40 students into my 5x10 storage closest. And now my dreams are about my family and my kids are sleeping and I have to round up all 3 in various parts of the house, all in my arms, and get them to a safe place with no windows where we can put blankets, and if we are lucky, a large mattress over us to protect us from falling debris. I know crazy, but these are very real sometimes.
So when I was lost driving at Redstone Arsenol last Tuesday, I thought I heard a siren. It had been a very blustery day already, but when I rolled down my window, I heard the siren say, "TORNADO WARNING, SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY!" I thought to myself..."is this real?" Well, due to much planning (you know, since I've been through this a million times before), I knew exactly what to do. I pulled into the nearest parking lot, quickly threw open the van doors, unbuckled my kids, and said, "I need you to quickly get out of the car and go into that building. Run as fast as you can." Surprisingly, they did exactly what I said and I also had a peace fill my soul that I know was a gift from Heavenly Father telling me that everything would be ok. Talon didn't even fuss when his Red Robin balloon whirled into the air upon opening the doors. With no shoes on, the boys and my sweet little Colton soaked completely through his outfit (he had a blow out and had pee all up his front), I did manage to grab my purse (wallet, drivers license, military i.d.), my Nikon (although then I would have had an excuse to buy the new camera I want), and the backpack with my new MacBook Pro (that had photos from a paid family shoot I just did 5 days earlier, plus it has a ton of my pictures on it). Luckily, there where 3 ladies by the door of this newly built (not even up and running yet) preschool center and they were so kind to help usher my kids in as I was running and yelling behind them, "Can we come in?" They led us to their planning room (middle of the school, no windows, large desks we could hid under...pretty good place to be compared to our 2nd story old apartment we were staying in) and we listened to the radio as they gave frequent updates on the tornados path. After I stripped Colt of his yuckiness, I knew I needed to check my phone as I kept hearing it ring and beep while I was driving, but my purse was in the back of our van and your not allowed to talk on phones on post (very illegal). Sure enough, Doug had been calling and texting trying to find out if I was ok and in a safe place. They had everyone in the hospital in the basement, so they were good. But he knows how freaked out I am about tornados, so he was frantically trying to call me.
We were there for about an hour and then they gave us a 30 minute clearance until the next round of tornado like storms were approaching. So I loaded up the kids, followed the map the nice ladies gave me, and made my way to the hospital Doug was working at. When we arrived, the kids had fallen asleep, so I just waited in the car for Doug to be done (yes, they did make them go back to work...crazy!). Well, not to long after sitting there, another siren begins, "TORNADO WARNING, SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY!!!" All three of my kids were sound asleep, so I didn't quite know where to begin. A police officer runs over to me and says, "Ma'am, you know there's a tornado right?" I said, "Yes, my husband's inside, we will head in soon." (I should have had him help me...) So again, I quickly unbuckle everyone, grab backpack with laptop in it as I put the important cards in my back pocket already, and carried a naked baby, dragged Talon who was throwing a fit (happens when he wakes up too early from a nap), and tried to assure Jaxon it was going to be ok as he was very aware of the urgency and alarm in the air. None of the kids had shoes on again...wow, we look ghetto...great first impressions of Doug's wife and kids...oh well. We go into the dental clinic and a man ushers us down into the basement. I chose a back corner that was kind of tucked away from the rest as it had more surrounding walls to hold the falling building if it were to fall. Doug later joined us as he was adamant about finishing the dental procedure he had begun. People in the clinic where yelling for him to get down to the basement, but he kept working...crazy man. (It was only about a 5 minute difference, but probably felt longer as they were trying to finish). We waited down there for about another hour and then received clearance to go home.
Well, we were not sure going to our apartment was the best option, so we headed to a friends one-story brick ranch and enjoyed company the rest of the evening.
Come to find out, the hospital Doug was working in was destroyed by a tornado years back. I thought they were joking when were all down in the basement about millions of dollars going down the drain again.
For the next 48 hours Jaxon asked me if there were any more "Tornado Storms" (that's what he calls them) coming. I frequently assured him that there were non, but if there were to be another one, we would hear the sirens. Poor guy, hopefully he's not traumatized from it for the rest of his life like his mother.
Looking back, I feel so blessed that the Lord blessed me with peace through something I'm terrified of. This gives me hope that he will always be there to bless me with peace through enduring future things that I'm scared of...like deployment.
