more than an answer was blowin in the wind!

I don't know how to describe the last 24 hours

     Storms had been predicted throughout the day.  I cooked burgers out on my grill on my new patio.      The temperature was warm and muggy.
     At 6:20 or so, Big Bang Theory was interrupted by a weather alert about storms north and west of us.  No worry.  I had a meeting to go to at 7, so I decided to wait a little before I left.
     Some time later...not sure how much....another report about a "hook" in a storm near Ashton, just about 10 miles west of us.  Could be a tornado.  Moving Northeast at 45 miles an hour.
     Then I went on the porch because it was hailing.
     Knowing Emily was at work, I called John to warn him about the hail.  A tornado warning for Rochelle was issued, and I took the warning seriously and got Jackie to the basement.
     The power went off as soon as we got down there.  I went to get a flashlight and when I came back I looked out my basement window.
     There was huge, grayish white cloud nearly at the ground, pulling in other clouds above it.  Trees started to move upward.
     I went to the closet to be sure Jackie was in there, and I think I joined her for a minute.  Then it was over.
     I went upstairs, opened the door and saw the storm and I knew Emily's house was in its path.  I called John.  He said he saw the storm too.
     Then I yelled to Jackie that I was going to check on the dogs.
     The quickest way to Emily's was blocked by downed trees and power lines.  I saw houses of friends in shambles.  I made u turn and drove as fast as I could to Emily's.
      I could not believe what I saw....or didn't see.
      Emily's house gone.  Not damaged.  Gone.  No porch. No fence. no walls.  No floor.  Just John standing in an empty garage with a look of shock.
      I asked about the 5 dogs, had he seen them.  No.
      We peered into the debris filled basement and he saw Pearl.  Then Cooper.
      Someone had to tell Emily.
      So John went to Walmart an I went home to get a ladder to get into the basement.
      I had never heard Jackie moan like she did when I told her.  I showed her a picture.  She moaned and cried even louder.
      I got her up from the basement.  Mary Kay and Steve called and they were on their way, mainly to stay with Jackie in the dark house.
     I borrowed a leash from the lady across the street, and her son Ben offered to come with to help get the dogs.
     By the time we got back, people were asking how they could help.  Strangers. I don't know where they came from.  Three of them went into the basement and somehow managed to lift a 125 pound Great Dane up the ladder.  Pearl, a greyhound, was a little lighter load.
     Meanwhile, Emily had found Banksy, alive but breathing very slowly and not moving.  She also found Finny, who was buried beneath part of a wall.  Bennett, the big boy, was nowhere to be seen, although his twisted cage was in the middle of the yard.
     Wendy rode with me to the 24 hour pet clinic in Aurora, while Emily and John took Banksy to her vet, where he put Banksy to sleep.
     Eventually, Emily, Bart, Steve and a whole bunch of other people were looking for Bennett.    Sometime after 11, Emily was in the horse pasture behind her lot when Kevin yelled, "Emily, he's in your car."
     Bennett had wandered around until he got back to Emily's car, where some gas company guys had more or less corralled him.  Kevin cautioned them to move slowly, and he opened the gate and he hopped in.
     Long story even longer....Bennett, Cooper and Pearl and fine.  Emily and John are fine.  Jackie and I are fine.
     But I know, looking at her house, if I had gotten to the dogs before the storm, or if John had gotten home before the storm, or it was on a day off for Emily, we would not have survived.
     Every time I see a video of that storm, I cry.  I cry for people I love who I could have lost, but for a quirk of fate or a job schedule.
     And I admit, I have said a lot of prayers the past few hours....for my family, for the dogs, for the 7 other families on her street who lost their homes, for the people in Fairfield.
     And I have given numerous prayers of thanks for those who helped in so many ways.  Bringing water, offering coffee, bringing in heavy equipment to pull out dangerous beams, bracing basement walls, offering their homes, their hugs, their time, and their love.
     I have often seen towns hit by tornadoes on the news.  But I have never been able to "get it" when it comes to the destruction.  Seeing it on tv is one thing, but seeing it in person is mind numbing.
    Life will get back to normal.  It may take a while, but it will get back to normal.
    After all, I am just getting too old for this!