I have no control

I no longer have control of my life

     Seriously!  Everywhere I go, every move I take....(wait a second, I feel a song comin' on!) it ends up at the tornado.
     I don't want to beat a dead horse.  But the storm rules all my conversations.  I see people in the store and they tell me how lucky we were that it was only a house.  I agree.
     Wild thing, that storm.  The storm brought total strangers to our community and those people helped us.  Not because they had to, or were paid to, but because they wanted to.
     It makes my heart sing.  So many volunteers that had to turn people away.  So many donations they had to say stop.
     It made everything so, well, groovy.  Wild thing.
     Now I can't get that song out of my head...don't know whether to blame The Troggs or Sam Kineson.
      And yet it just doesn't seem real.
     I wanted to ask Emily today if she had any more problems with her garage door not closing.  A couple of weeks ago it seemed to not close, and I thought some debris was lodged in front of one of the sensors.  I cleaned it out.
     Her new shower was half done.  I wanted to see what it looked like.
     When I drove over to her lot today, I expected to see all the houses of the people in the neighborhood, Adam's, Brian's, Jodi's.....but they were gone.  Still.
     Emily and John lived in a house that had two bedrooms, a craft room, living room, sun room, dining room, kitchen, two bathrooms and a laundry room.  There was a lot of stuff in the house.
     We found a coffee table and a dining room chair.  That's it.
     A lot of stuff fell into the basement and we are slowly going through that.  There will be a push this weekend to sort:  then  save, toss or whatever all the items that were found.  Some are Julia's.  Some are mine.  Some are Emily's.  Some may be Adam's.
     I'd like to say the tears have stopped.  But they haven't, hers or mine.
     I am so thankful for their safety, and our safety, and your safety.  I am so thankful for the army of volunteers that have helped clean up the properties around Rochelle.  I am so thankful for the first responders who were checking for trapped people within minutes.  I am so thankful for the people who have stopped us and said "we're sorry." because it shows how much they care about my family.
     Emily and John  met with a claims adjuster today, along with a builder.  They are meeting with an architect tomorrow and if all goes well, within the next few weeks a new home will be started.
    It won't erase the memories of last Thursday.  Nothing will.
    In time, maybe the blows will be lessened, or softened by time.
    A year?  Two?  Who knows.
     I just hope we never experience anything like that again in our community.