The Tornado

April 27th was the day of the horrific tornado. I still can't believe it happened and you can almost forget it until you drive down 15th street or say to yourself, "Oh, I can pick that up at Hobby Lobby later." It always takes me a few moments to realize, "No, I can't go to Hobby Lobby because it's not there." There are neighborhoods that will never be the same and not just because all the houses are gone but because all of the trees are gone too. It is really unbelievable.

Thankfully, John was home with us that day because he was post call. I'm never real concerned about the weather and don't pay close attention. The kids were up from their naps and we saw on tv that there was a tornado touched down. We all headed to our bedroom closet. John stayed out in our bedroom to watch the weather. Alex was playing his explorer, Avery with my shoes, and I was on the computer. John came and said, "You need to come look at this." I could tell by his tone it was bad. When I saw the tv I saw the largest tornado I have ever seen. At that moment, the weather man said, "it's right by the hospital." It's funny...I knew we weren't that close to the hospital but the point was I knew where the hospital was. NEVER have I known something that close to me with a tornado heading toward it. We are probably 8 miles from the hospital and we had no damage from the storms earlier that morning or from the tornado. John called the hospital and talked to a nurse who said Hobby Lobby and Chuck E. Cheese were gone. I didn't quiet know what gone meant yet. The next day I was sick in bed all day. . Emily had the kids and John was helping a friend. Then I got a call that a 4 yr old little boy needed size 4T clothes. My friend, Tina, knew I was sick and was going to meet me about 5 minutes from my house. I got the clothes ready but she had left a message that she couldn't get to me. I still didn't understand why she couldn't get to me. All I had seen were pictures online and heard radio descriptions. I got in my car to head out and try to meet her, I never made it. It would have taken me at least 2 hours to get to her and by that time she would have been gone-normally it would take me 20 minutes at the most. Many of you have asked for pictures and I know you have seen them from CNN, and you may have even forgotten about it. Here they are. Please know they don't do it justice. You can't imagine how bad it is until you really see it. Many of these places still look the same, the Hobby Lobby shopping center hasn't even been touched yet as far as I can tell. There is still a lot of rebuilding to do! I didn't mean to write all this...not sure still why I did. I guess I just don't want to forget that day and how I felt. I'm so thankful to God that everyone I knew was safe.


John's Aunt and Uncle had a tree fall on their house, but they were ok. Their part of town was one of the worst hit, Alberta City. Most of these pictures are from their neighborhood and what I saw as I tried to get to my friend, Tina, with the clothes.

George and Sandra's front yard


Another view

Down McFarland...




Bedzz Espress

In Alberta
















Driving down University Blvd