Oklahoma

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Oklahoma. Enough said.
Or, not much else to say, I should say.

Watching the news yesterday as the tornado wreaked havoc and leveled a town to debris, I couldn't even process in my head what was going on there.

I thought back to end of October, when Sandy -- a minimal storm [not even categorized as an "official" hurricane] caused utter destruction in my town and in NJ/NY in general. I remember thinking in the aftermath of Sandy's destruction that I can't even fathom what the end result is of Category 4 or 5 hurricanes, if  "superstorm" Sandy left so much destruction.  If that little storm caused so much damage, I don't even want to think of what this tornado did/was capable of doing.

Just this past Sunday, we finally got the last of the damaged items cleared away in our backyard [shed and other items completely destroyed by the two trees that fell on them]. Repairing and replacing the damaged fence, removing the fallen trees took so long. Driving through town, damage is still evident -- missing sidings in houses, missing/broken fences being the most obvious ones.

It took weeks to get back to a "new normal" in the aftermath of Sandy -- rationed gases, grocery essentials missing from grocery stories, etc. Even when our grocery store got power back, they couldn't carry perishables because electricity was so unpredictable.

How do you rebuild a whole town in the aftermath of such tornadoes? Schools, hospitals, residential areas are gone. Where does one even start? I don't even know how a town reels from something on such a larger scale, when a minimal storm changed so much for us.

Hearing about the missing school children has especially gotten to me. I can't, and don't even want to, imagine what the parents must be feeling/going through. Yet, the heroic stories emerging about teachers? Something to smile about, that's for sure. Teachers don't get the credit they deserve. Every time I hear a teacher say "they are just doing their job" in the aftermath of something like this -- whether it be a man-made tragedy, acts of God, mother nature, whatever... I want to remind them that they do so much more than "their job". For that, I thank them. Not many do.

It's remarkable to think in the aftermath of Newtown and Oklahoma especially -- so many stories of so many educators risking their own lives for their students. Each time, they say something to the likes of "these are OUR kids". The roles they take on are many, and sometimes an educator falls quite low when you think of all that they do for so many children each and everyday.

On a side note, if you know me, you know I've always wanted to go to Oklahoma! Not even sure why, but it's been on my to-do list for the longest time.