Last Monday morning (May 20), I was driving down 4th street in Moore on my way to my doctor's office for a regular check-up. I remember looking at the 7-11 and thinking about a time I stopped there. I don't know why I thought about it as it wasn't really a memorable trip. I drove down 4th street to Penn and then cut up to my doctor's office. While there, we talked about the recent and impending tornadoes. As I left, he told me to be safe.
Less than 7 hours later, that 7-11 was no longer there.
Talk about surreal. We got off work early. As I pulled into my neighborhood, the sirens went off. I hurried into my house and into my bathroom. I realized later I wasn't in any real danger, but there's still something unnerving about being huddled in the bathroom of your not super sturdy looking apartment alone wondering if you're going to have to hang onto your toilet (which you have been needing to clean) for dear life as a tornado rips over your apartment. My electricity started blinking. My internet went out. My phone service started getting spotty.
I don't even know how I found out that Moore had been devastated. I texted my sister, who lives a couple of miles north of the devastation. She was huddled in a safe room with a bunch of 5th and 6th graders. No word on her house. I texted our friend Courtney, who lives VERY close to the devastation. She was okay, holding down the fort with several high schoolers. No idea about her house.
Went to dinner with friends and saw the devastation for the first time. There are no words. It's bad enough seeing devastation on tv. It takes on a whole new meaning, though, when you know where they are filming and realize it is only about 10 miles away.
The last week has been surreal. I keep telling people I wasn't affected by the tornadoes. My house is fine. My friends and family are fine. Their houses are fine.
But I realized we have all been affected.
I hear therapists at my work calling their clients to see if they are okay and see how much damage happened. Due to HIPPAA regulations, I can't really tell you their stories... but know that several of them experienced horrific circumstances and came unfathomably close to death. Some lost everything. I see pictures all over Facebook of friends of friends who lost everything. I get daily emails about how to help in Moore. While friends are helping with relief efforts, I'm sitting at work trying to carry on when really I'd rather be in Moore. Very little separates Moore from Norman. In fact, until a year ago, I lived in Moore. No, I haven't been to see the damage. If I were going near there, I'd be helping instead of gawking. It's surreal to know that much of what I have become accustomed to seeing is gone. It's sad to think of the number of people who have lost everything. This disaster was too close to home to forget just because it isn't the headline on CNN anymore.
So, I'm changing my answer. Yes, I am affected, though not nearly in the way that those living in Moore have been affected. My whole perspective on an altogether not amazing week was changed (more on that in another blog, perhaps). Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I found myself remembering everything could be much worse. At the end of some pretty bad days this week, I went to sleep in my own house with electricity and safe water, thinking of those who were not.
No comments:
Post a Comment