Devastation & Destruction

I've been sitting here trying to figure out how to start this post and there are just no words right now. To be honest, I started this post days ago and had to come back to it. The last two weeks have been full of excitement, heartbreak, laughter, and sorrow and I've been fighting with myself over everything.

For those of you who don't know me, I live in Birmingham, Alabama. Unless you've been disconnected for all things electronic, you know that on April 27th tornadoes ripped through the south leaving one of the biggest paths of destruction. This series of storms was like no other and although this storm produced over 400 tornadoes in three days, 249 of those occurred on the 27th. As of now, the death toll is at 239.

My husband and I were on vacation while all this was happening and not only did I feel terrible for enjoying myself but I felt helpless. We glued ourselves to our local ABC affiliate's iPhone app while things were still happening and as soon as we checked into our hotel, we perched in front of a TV taking it all in.

I was anxious to get back home. The rest of the trip we watched as much as we could and kept updated on family through text messages and friends through Facebook. The whole time I could only think about what I could do to help while sitting in California.

We were very fortunate. Our friends and families all made it through the storms with little-to-no damage but there are hundreds of people who cannot say the same. I can't tell you what it felt like driving through a place only 10-15 minutes from my house, to see nothing against the night sky where houses and trees should have been. My heart breaks for everyone that was affected on that day but we will rebuild and the people who lost their lives for no reason will never be forgotten.