Oklahoma Strong

Today is the 1 year anniversary of the tornado that passed through (ripped apart is more accurate) Moore, Oklahoma.

Moore is not far from Norman, Oklahoma (where OU is). It's between Norman and Oklahoma City. Living in Oklahoma, tornadoes are part of the package. Growing up here, you sort of are accustomed to the sirens. 

We were in France for under a week when the tornado hit. My family lives in Tulsa, but Mel and some of the others had families in the area...not to mention all of our friends that were too close for comfort. Mel's family was really lucky because the tornado seemed to hit everyone around them. They had a broken window, but were unscathed besides that. It was definitely scary to be in that situation. Very helpless feeling. I know it took Melanny a while to hear from her family so we were all holding our breath for a bit. Big sigh of relief soon followed, but it was a long night to say the least. 

After getting back from France, I had to go with my mom to Norman so that we could get the rest of my stuff out of the little rent house I lived in. We passed through Moore  and were shocked by the damage. It was completely devastating to the community.

So sad to see huge chunks of land strewn with debris from what used to be someone's life. Everything was mixed together. We passed by a school that was hit. They had chairs out for the victims who died. 

Silver lining: one of the greatest things about living in Oklahoma is witnessing the compassion and love strangers show for one another in times of need. We can be very proud of that. The people of Oklahoma have huge hearts and will jump in to help when needed. When I was in NYC a couple years back, I visited a church that was right in front of Ground Zero. It was intact and didn't get damaged during 9/11. In fact, a lot of the medical groups set up temporary clinics there during the chaos. This is a church that old presidents used to go to when in NY. 

One of the first things you see when you walk in is a huge banner from the people of Oklahoma that was sent to show support for the people of NYC. Oklahoma has seen its fair share of bad days, but I love the way people help one another here.

If you hear tornado sirens, take cover people. Don't go out on the front porch and watch for the storm.