Two events shook our country in the past 48 hours.
1. Tornadoes tore through Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina, killing at least (at the time I write this) 23 people, including a 10 year old girl and a six year old boy.
My spouse loves to watch the weather.
Sunday he was watching his radar app because he heard of storms near Americus, Georgia. We had stayed in a bed and breakfast there once, and have fond memories of our stay. He put his finger on a couple of radar spots and said "those storms are pure evil".
One of them may have been the storm that hit Lee County, Alabama and killed the 23 people. Some families lost multiple members.
In an instant, their lives changed forever.
I used to live in tornado country - four years in Wichita, Kansas, nearly a year in Wichita Falls, Texas and five years in Northwest Arkansas. Two years after I left Texas, a tornado hit the Wichita Falls area and killed 45 people.
When I hear sirens, my heart still stops. Ironically, the closest I have ever come to a tornado was right here in the Binghamton, New York area, when an EF-1 tornado hit near where I worked at the time. I remember the people I knew back south and west who survived tornadoes (I met several of them.)
Weather is beyond our control. We do not respect Nature at our peril.
2. Luke Perry, once a teen heartthrob, died from a massive stroke he suffered last week, at the age of 52. Luke was not a member of my generation, but I am seeing younger people I know so impacted.
At some point in your life, the knowledge of mortality knocks on your door. It can be a brush with a serious illness such as cancer. It can be caring for your parents in their old age. Or it can be the death of friends or even actors/actresses of your early life.
It's hard to live life knowing we can leave it at any moment. Many of us live in denial of that fact, until it is forced upon us.
It's a lesson we all need to be reminded of from time to time.
Tuesday, March 5, 2019
7 comments:
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Such an interesting text.
ReplyDeleteMany greetings.
So sad about the loss of lives this week. Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent in the liturgical church. As ashes are imposed upon foreheads, the words, "remember you are dust and to dust you will return" are uttered again and again. This truth is a reason to cherish every moment of the life we have.
ReplyDeletebrings up two old saws- live each day as if it's your last, since you never know- and always wear clean underwear, in case you are brought up short
ReplyDeleteI was shocked to hear of Luke Perry. He's my generation, although I was never a fan. It seems so weird to me.
ReplyDeleteI had not heard about the tornado. I guess I was wrapped in my own little world. (Our local news is all about the new system of rain due to hit us tonight. But then again, I didn't watch the news. It was probably there if I had paid attention.)
Yes, life is short, and precious. We just lost a friend in a senseless act of violence.
ReplyDeleteSo much death this week. I grew up on the East Coast and now live in the Midwest. Those sirens sure do raise your stress level, but this week reminded me of how much we need to have that warning.
ReplyDeleteI can recall my older relatives who are well into the upper 80's being my age now.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on