Living in Ohio pretty much your whole life, you become accustomed to tornadoes and sirens and severe thunderstorms. Luckily in the area we are in, we are in a 'valley'- so more often than not the tornado will skirt us by and stay in the heavens as opposed to touching down to destroy our lives. They still scare the hell out of me though, as my husband and I both can recall the Xenia tornado of 1974. I may have only been about to turn 3, but it is one of the earliest memories I have - being shuttled to the basement in a frantic rush for survival and being scared to death that my dad was not at home.
Obviously we made it through, but it is because of that I have a certain level of preparedness that has escalated into pure obsession lately thanks to the news broadcasts of thousands of people who have lost everything in a matter of seconds. I do not take it lightly, and although my husband and children yesterday were astounded at my OCD taking a very paranoid form, they understood.
For the umpteenth day in a row, we were watching the news for information regarding a storm headed our way. This storm had a different angle; it was taking a dangerous turn for the worse so I started my 'mom panic' - you know, the panic that you have as a parent but have to retain some semblance of sanity and calm so that your kids do not freak the hell out. When that happens, then you have to deal with mom panic AND kid panic, and it is inevitable that someone is going to get yelled at.
I tell my kids that IF we should have to run to the bathroom to huddle in the tub, it is best to be ready now. My daughter grabs her lovey; a stuffed elephant that will probably walk her down the aisle at her wedding. My son, in full ADD mode, grabs the weather radio. Although I am partially happy at their picks, I tell them to get their shoes on.
"Mom, we can't outRUN the tornado."
"We are not going to outrun the tornado - but when we are possibly digging ourselves out of the rubble around us, do you want shoes on your feet, or do you want to walk around barefoot afterwards?"
They put shoes on.
I then explain why I am doing the things I am doing; I am putting the asthma medications and extra cell phone batteries and charger in my purse, along with a packet of papers I keep ready to go at any given moment containing birth certificates, social security cards, marriage certificate and license, copies of shot records and insurance information.
My oldest seems puzzled. I explain to her that if something is to happen, and we lose everything, all the information we need to rebuild our lives is now in my purse. You go to the bank and need money and do not have ID, they will refer you to the BMV to get ID. You can't get ID because you do not have a copy of your social security card. They refer you to the BMV to get picture ID. See the vicious cycle here? It is why I not only keep copies here, but in a safe deposit box at the bank as well in case of fire.
We are ready to go, and thankfully we only get pounded with some hail and some heavy rain and wind. The kids go out to pick up the palm size pieces of ice that just fell from the sky while I put things back in their safe place for the next round. I begin wondering if there was damage done to my car due to hail which is at the repair shop, complaining that my lawn chair cushions are all over the neighborhood, and that yet again the grass isnt going to get mowed because it is too wet.
It is then, for whatever reason, I realize the house is a mess, and dishes are in the sink, cereal is left out, there is some spilled soda on the counter and laundry left to fold on the couch. "Thank God a tornado didn't come - there are dishes in the sink - I would have been embarrassed had the roof been blown off and the news saw our house looking like this..."
I am sure it came out as a way for me to be thankful that I am not one of the thousands of people in Missouri or Alabama or Illinois or Kansas or....you get the point. I take for granted that I woke up with a roof over my head when so many woke up to search yet again for a loved one. I panicked that my wedding ring was not on my finger when someone is panicking because she cannot find her husband. I insisted my children put shoes on their feet when someone else is simply thankful their child can walk amongst the rubble that was a couple days ago a life similar to my own.
A tornado blows through my house everyday, in the form of three children and a husband I would be lost without, and I will thank every day it does.
My heart goes out to all those with and without shoes on their feet right now.
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