I don't think we are in Kansas anymore!

[cornflakegirl3]

1:00 PM I am sitting in a restaurant with a friends having lunch when she gets a call.  "There is a tornado warning for this whole area."  As we walk outside looking to the sky we laugh, really it looks pretty clear to me.

Fast forward to 3:30 when I am getting ready to pick my son up from school.  The sky is starting to get darker and darker so I decide to leave a little early.  As I am sitting there watching the skies over the mountain I think "It is going to get pretty bad."  The clouds start moving in faster and faster it is getting darker and you can hear the distance thunder.  Within minutes the storm is upon us and the staff is letting us know "You can come inside if you want, we aren't letting the students leave."

Walking into the school was like walking into total chaos with 100 teenagers wondering what is going on.  A parent had seen a funnel cloud while driving to the school and the warning were all around us and the surronding areas.  For the next hour we watched update after update. We saw tornadoes touch round in cities of our family and friends and clung to the hope that everyone would be okay.  Finally the storms passed, just as fast as they came and we were able to go home.

We had to be fast because more storms were on their way and while the sky in front us looked clear behind us it looked scary, black almost.  You can't out run a tornado so drove fast and called family as we went.  My sister came out of work to see the funnel cloud in front of her; she grabbed her kids and went back inside.  As my brother in law was driving to them the funnel cloud was to his left, it never turned his way.  The center of one town was completely destroyed, the church my friends were married in was leveled.  The destruction and devastation is everywhere.

Once home we watched the news for hours, tornadoes touching ground, more storms coming, stay inside, stay safe.  We had a picnic on the floor and played games, we had a music jam session while the world around us was thrown into mayhem.  We watched the skies clear and darker and clear again; there was hail, rain, wind, thunder and lightening and we were safe and together.  Finally around 10:00 PM the warning were lifted and the skies cleared.  This morning we wake up to birds singing, the sun shining and the knowledge that we okay.

The clean up has stared the rebuilding will begin soon and we are hear to talk about it.  I never thought I would see tornadoes touching down in Western Massachusetts, but they did.  So today as we start our day I am thankful to be here, I am reminded of how precious life is and I will live everyday to the fullest.