Hold On, I'm Coming.

God only knows how people are gonna take that one. Everybody is talking about what happened on 04/27/2011. On that day, our lives changed. We'd been paying attention to the weather since about 6:30 that morning. After one tornado went through the Pisgah area, it cleared up. Damn, but that was deceptive.

Mike and I were at Mom's house later that evening. Our dogs were at our house, because it had started raining again. We were watching the news, trying to keep an eye on everything that was coming in, then the power went out. So there we were, in a dark house, trying to find batteries for the weather radio. We finally found them, and then.. we couldn't figure out how to program it for certain counties, so it would go off for everything. It went off for a tornado warning in Rainsville, so I started watching out the back windows up towards Granny's house, my house, and the barn.

I can't remember what Mama was doing, but Mike was sitting on the couch playing his PSP. My dad called, and said that he and Rita were in Rainsville, trying to get to her son and his family in Sylvania. I remember him saying that it was bad, and it had just went through Sylvania when I glanced out the window. I said, "Daddy, I've gotta go, it's here."

Behind my grandmother's house was a wall of black clouds. Mom went out to the back porch to see if it was just clouds or what. Mike was behind me, waiting. I went out the door to get Mama. It was a tornado, no doubt. I tried to focus, but it was massive. I thought there were birds, in it, but when I looked again, I realized it was debris. I was holding Mama's hand, and she tried to let go, kept crying for her Mama. I asked her to come inside, telling her we needed to get in the bathtub. (Why do we always get in the bathtub? Just wondering.) She kept pulling away, trying to get to Granny. Somewhere in my heart, I knew that if she left, she'd die. I picked her up with one arm, and closed the door with the other. I screamed for Mike and he was right behind me, helping me fight Mama, struggling to keep her in the bathroom with me. I put her in the tub, and she was kneeling there. I knelt behind her, holding onto her with all I had. Mike stood just outside, leaning over me. For the next 5ish minutes, I cried and I prayed. I don't know who I prayed to, but damn did I pray. It was a litany... Oh God, please spare my family. Over and over again.

Once the wind died down, we all ran outside and got in Mom's car. When I looked up that way, I couldn't see the barn, and I began to panic. I looked further to the right, and saw my house.... and my Grandmother's house. Ahhhh. Sigh of relief. Momentarily, anyway.

As we pulled up, my cousin, Cody walked through Granny's door... OK, good, they're ok. I walk around the corner of her trailer... and there is my house. It had been picked up and moved completely off the foundation and turned sideways. I went into panic mode again, because my babies were in there. Mike, Cody, and I ran up to the house, and tried to go into the door. It wouldn't budge. The dogs were jumping up on the door, whining and crying to be let out. Cody tried to kick the door in, but that was a no-go. So, while I'm hyperventilating, Mike walks around to the other door, and it opens with ease, kind of. One of my bookcases had slid in front of the door. Once it's opened, Mike calls them to no avail. All I have to do is call their names and out the door they trot. Cody slipped through to get their food bowl and the food container.

After everything calmed down, and I settled down, we all went back to Mom's house. No power, no water. Oh man, does that suck. We went out the next day, to see the damage. Oh my god. We were so fortunate. Yes, we lost our barn and 400 chicks. Yes, my house is all kinds of jacked up. The drive in that is like... 100 yards from my house? Gone. Houses not even 1/4 mile from my house? Smashed. Completely devastating. We didn't lose a single family member. I repeat... So very fortunate.

Cody, the idiot, helped my Granny into the bathtub, put a mattress over her, and went back to watch. He said it picked up my house and then stopped, as if it had changed it's mind, and went towards the barn. Again, I say, so very, very fortunate.

I don't know what to say, to express my gratitude for everyone we didn't lose. All we lost were things and things just don't matter.

My mom asked me today... "Why were you holding on to me? Why weren't you holding on to Mike?" All I could think to say was, "He was holding me, and I held you."

My heart is with you all tonight. Everyone effected by what happened that day. Everyone who lost someone near and dear. Those who lost everything they owned. You are in my heart, now and always. You are in my thoughts daily.  So... Hold on, I'm coming.

Love to all,
Allie

Comfort.

The weather lately has... sucked. That's being nice. Don't get me wrong. I love rain. I even love storms with thunder and lightning. Once it escalates beyond that, I'm out. On October 25, a tornado hit Ider. For those of you who are not familiar with my area, Ider is the next city over.

Ider High School is my Alma Mater. That school holds a place dear to my heart. When I saw the photos I am posting below, I was devastated. (These photos belong to Melissa Smith/The Times Journal. 10/25/10 Ider Storm Damage for more photos) Yes, it has been over 10 years since I was there last, but that doesn't matter to me. I occasionally go to a football game there even though I don't know anyone playing. I always listen for the scoreboard update the night they are playing to see how my team is doing. Anyway, here goes.

This is the home side bleachers. The little house looking thing is the announcers booth.



A close up of the bleachers.

This just hurt my heart to see. There are more pictures in that link above that show more damage. I am extremely grateful that there weren't any lives lost.

I had no less than 14 voice mails when I woke up that morning. My cell phone is my alarm clock, you see, and I turn the ringer off at night so only the alarm comes through. My mom, my dad, my brother, and several friends were worried enough about me to call. I was fine, of course. I slept through the whole thing. I even slept through my front door being opened by a gust of wind and my living room floor being flooded with water. Let me tell you, that was awesome to stumble into when I got up to let the dogs out.

After I got over the shock of water, I listened to my voice mails. My heart was warm. Every time I get fed up with living in a small town, something happens to make me grateful for it. That's how it is around here. Yes, we are backwards. Yes, we are rednecks. Yes, we get a little crazy about the Alabama/Auburn game. When it all goes downhill however, we have each others' backs. People here give for their neighbors. It doesn't matter how little we have, how poor we are. We will always give what we can to take care of others.

Yesterday I spent my time cleaning and playing therapist. I hadn't made any plans for today. I figured I would wait until today to find out what I was getting into. Why yes. I am a procrastinator, thanks for asking. I'll tell you why tomorrow.



Lovely weather we're having.

This is what awaited me today. Blah. Seriously blah. I whined and pouted for a few minutes while the demon dogs laughed at me. So I kicked them out in it. It kills me. They love the pool, but hate the rain. What gives? While they were outside, I decided to have a me day. I made Cheeseburger Mac with Caramelized Onions. No, it isn't healthy. Yes, it is Teh Awesome. (Yes I am misspelling that on purpose. I did it the other day too. I'll explain eventually.)

I actually took step by step pictures because I do plan on posting it. I'm not sure if it will be tomorrow, but my magic 8 ball says "All Signs Point To Yes!"  Who had one of those? I did. I asked it about every single thing I could think of. Wonder where it went?

Sorry. I get sidetracked easily. My post is titled Comfort because that is what I needed today. So what did I do? I made a big bowl of comfort and piled up with my laptop to catch up on Hawaii 5-0 and Blue Bloods. Then a friend turned me on to something and I became addicted. Best of Craigslist Have you ever been there? You can waste hours on this site. I laughed so hard my sides hurt. A letter to my dead girlfriend made me cry so hard tears actually poured out onto my cheeks. That is a rare occurence for me. I tear up now just thinking about it.

Anyway. I'm going now. But here is a look at what tomorrow will bring. Yeah, the picture is weird. It looks that way to me, anyway. Steam is not conducive to good picture taking, but hey, at that moment, all I cared about was getting the shot and getting that stuff in my belly.

Love to all,
Allie