Some Stories

One of the most memorable photographs I have ever seen was taken on 9/11. It is of a mother feeding her infant who is sitting in one of those infant bouncy seats. They are on a rooftop and in the background you can see the twin towers burning. To me it is such a profound statement that even in the midsts of the worst tragedies, life goes on.

This morning started early, as the girls and I woke up to watch the royal wedding. It felt so good to be watching something so joyful after all the horror of the past two days (has it really only been two days?!). And then we were back to school after being out yesterday. I was happy to return to the routine to get my mind on something other than the tornadoes.

However at school there were several stories. Some were hopeful: the cousin of one of the teachers who was sucked up out of his apartment, but fell into his bathtub (which was no longer in the bathroom) and a piece of the roof fell on top of him forming a safe "cocoon". Some were heartbreaking: the grandmother of one of my students who was crushed by a falling car. Some are going to give me nightmares: the co-worker of one of the teacher's son who received a call from his wife telling him she was laying on top of their three children in the bathtub and the tornado was coming. He raced home (which took 4 hours because of the damage) and found his children scattered outside (the house was gone) with various broken bones and such. It took rescuers a long time to find his wife, who had been killed. That was in Fort Payne--which hasn't even been mentioned on the news.

No one at our school was hurt. One of the first graders lost her home though. A few of the students have lake homes which were destroyed. While it is sad, at least those are just secondary homes which can be replaced.

Many of the students had stories of debris they have found in their yards. One had a picture with a name on the back. I encouraged her to try to find who it belongs to and return it. Someone in Mr. C's class found a hundred dollar bill. Mr. C  found a five dollar bill. Several people found checks and financial papers. Can you imagine on top of everything else to have to worry about having your financial papers land in some stranger's yard? One of M's friends found a Milo's cup with a receipt taped to it which showed it came from Tuscaloosa. One of my students found a pair of jeans in their yard. I think everyone has found some insulation.

We are all suffering from minor inconveniences. Hubby has been without power since Wednesday morning. We had to cancel Serendipity Day at our school. (Serendipity Day is only the coolest thing that any school I've ever been to does.) The most disturbing thing (for our family) is that due to Huntsville not having any power, Space Camp has been cancelled for next week. They may reschedule it, but they will probably just refund the money. Mr. C is devastated, but... I remind him that we are all in one piece and that is more important.

At least I haven't been worrying about the house (not) selling this week. And I've completely gotten over the garage door being shot out by the neighbor. Oh, I didn't post about that did I? Well, I'm over it.

Sorry for such a long, rambling, somewhat depressing post. I'm too tired to proofread this or reword the awkward sentences.