Watching the news in the last week has been hard. Natural disasters suck, but they seem worse when they're more random. Tornadoes are the most random, and yet most concentrated destruction that nature can throw at you. Growing up in the Midwest, you're no stranger to tornadoes, but for the most part, they almost never happen to you.
I've often wondered how I would react in the moment of something that deadly serious. As our biggest threat, however unlikely, is earthquakes, I'm sure that the first thing I would do is go to Simon to get him to a safe place as quickly as possible. I know you're not supposed to go anywhere, but Simon can't exactly get out of his crib and crawl under a table himself.
What's most striking about these stories from the areas that have been slammed by these storms is how fast lives have been changed. I think people can be resilient to the loss of homes, and communities and outside help have certainly demonstrated that they're not alone, but losing people is awful. The heartbreaking stories of young couples losing a spouse, and of toddlers being pulled from the rubble only to die later are heartbreaking.
I wish there was more you could do from afar than just give money and "stuff." In the days immediately following stuff like this, people need people, on the ground, helping out.
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