Resurection Sunday

This is the house that is 3 doors down from the Soks. If you look at the front of the picture you will see shrubs and the walkway that used to lead to their front door. Notice where the house is in the backyard. It was picked up and scattered.


This is the crawl space that Wayne's parents got in to seek safety. They were in their back yard garden when they saw it.

Memories from someone's life now scattered about.

Looks like a little princess lived here.

This was 2 doors down from the Soks.

Next door neighbor's car.

Next door to the Soks.

This a picture of across the street from the Soks.

This is the bunny bread truck that we gained access to in order to remove the contents of the Soks home. Don't ask questions how we got this truck and I'll tell you no lies.

Ironically it was 10 or 11 Easters ago that I was having Easter lunch at the Soks house. We hid eggs in their yard. They made us their famous "Sok spaghetti." I was introduced to the cherry wine that his parents made from the cherry tree in the front yard. They poured it in a shot glass. I was in college then and there was only one thing you did with a shot glass. You shoot it. Apparently you were supposed to sip it. Heathen.

On this Easter, 2009, I was helping them take their belongings from 22 years and box them up. I wish I could tell you how amazing their whole family is, how both their sons are war heroes. They are what you call "good people." Yet on this day, they were just another tornado victim, forced to push their emotions aside and try to figure out what to do, what to leave and what to take, and where to go. Their back yard almost touches the back yard of the mother and infant who were killed in the storm.

When you stand and look at the scene around, you realize in one second how powerful God is. That he created something that could do so much damage, and how he whispered on that day for so many people in Victoria Park to not go home. Had most of the people in that neighborhood been home, they wouldn't have survived, there's no doubt. Had Wayne's parents been 3 doors down, there was no crawl space left.

Living in today's world where we are so used to having anything and everything we want at our fingertips, its sobering just how much can be taken from you and made you to feel almost like a third class citizen. No electricity, no running water, police not allowing you to your home. Having to depend on people you don't even know to help you.

Although the friends who we bumped into yesterday and today don't keep in touch often, its a reminder of how strong friendships once were and are not forgotten easily.

When we got home and unloaded the truck in our garage, I went inside to see the kids. I took great pleasure in putting their pajamas on and rocking them to sleep in their own rooms, in their own beds, listening to soft lullaby music. So thankful that they are my children, and I am their mom, and I get to spend another day with them.