I flip interestedly through the Rebuilding Our Tuscaloosa magazine. I study the pictures intensely and glance at a few of the articles of the local’s personal experiences with the tornado that ripped through their town of Tuscaloosa.
Not lingering for very long on any particular article, I continue turning the pages.
Until I come to this.
IN MEMORIAM
We remember the 43 people who died in Tuscaloosa county from the April 27 tornado
I pause and read the lengthy list below this bold heading – my heart flip flops.
It’s not any of the names that get me.
It’s the ages.
I pick out the youngest…
2 months.
(throat tightens)
Second to youngest…
8 months.
(heart lunges into throat)
The list continues with 15 months, 2 years, 3 years on up to age 95.
Two months.
Those words ring in my head.
Can you imagine only having your baby for sixty days and then having them ripped away from you by a tornado?
Unfathomable.
Which causes me to wonder…
What are they feeling this very moment? How is their life continuing?
Is their life continuing?... with hope?
Because I can’t fathom pinking up the shattered pieces of life after that. Praise God for His Promise in Luke 1:37. For nothing is impossible with God.
My prayers are with them.
My prayers are with them.
(The rest of the list for Tuscaloosa...)
Minnie Acklin, 73, Tuscaloosa
Jeffrey Artis, 51, Tuscaloosa
Scott Atterton, 23, UA student from Bryant
Jennifer V. Bayode, 35, Tuscaloosa
Caiden Blair, 2 months
Michael Bowers, 3, Tuscaloosa
Loryn Alexandria Brown, 21, died Tuscaloosa, from Wetumpka
Mary Bryant, 43, Tuscaloosa
Hugh Graham Davie, 55, Tuscaloosa
Ta' Christianna Dixon, 8 months, Tuscaloosa
Danielle Downs, 24, Tuscaloosa
Arielle Edwards, 22, Tuscaloosa
Makayla S. Edwards, 5, Tuscaloosa
Melgium Farley, 58, Tuscaloosa
Cedria Harris, 8, Tuscaloosa
Keshun Harris, 5, Tuscaloosa
Ashley Harrison, 22 UA student from Dallas, Texas
Shena Hutchins, 26, Tuscaloosa/Rosedale
Carolyn Ann Jackson, 50, Tuscaloosa
Jacqueline Jefferson, 45, Tuscaloosa
Thelma May Bennett Krallman, 89, Tuscaloosa
Tennie Mozelle Lancaster, 95, Tuscaloosa
Davis Lynn Gordo Lathem, 57, Tuscaloosa
Velma T. Leroy, 64, Tuscaloosa
Dorothy Lewis, 61, Tuscaloosa
Thomas D. Lewis, 66, Tuscaloosa
Yvonne Mayes, 30s, Tuscaloosa
Christian A. McNeil, 15 months, Tuscaloosa
William Robert McPherson, 85, Forrest Lake
Zyquria McShan, 2, Tuscaloosa
Melanie Nicole Mixon, 21, UA student from Mulga
Perry Blake Peek, 24, Tuscaloosa
Lola Pitts, 85, Tuscaloosa
Terrilyn Plump, 37, Tuscaloosa
Kevin Rice, 36, Tuscaloosa
Annie Lois Humphries Sayer, 88, Tuscaloosa
Judy Darlene Rheams Sherrill, 62, Brookwood
Morgan Marlene Sigler, 23, UA student from Bryant
Marcus J. Smith, 21, Tuscaloosa
William Chance Stevens, 22, Tuscaloosa
Justin Leeric Thomas, 15, Tuscaloosa
Patricia Hodo Turner, 55, Tuscaloosa
Willie Lee (Trey) Turner III, 21, Tuscaloosa
For those of you who are not from around here, the town of Tuscaloosa is home to the University of Alabama (UA).
9 comments:
wow. i don't have many words; i've just sat here a little, stunned at what you've written here. i'm from michigan, and tornadoes for us are rare occurrences. and i don't think it occurred to me, until the tornadoes this past spring, that they cause not only destruction of property but destruction of life.
i'm praying for the healing that is surely, if slowly, coming.
i apologize for the passage of few days between your comment and my response. i respond to all my comments via email and haven't touched my inbox all week. thank you for your sweet comments! and yes, m&m's do make life better, but i've been eating them all week and think i might have to put the container in a cabinet and a lock on the cabinet door, haha.
i really like your blog and am excited to see what you go on to write!
hahaha. don't worry - i do the same thing! and i will do my best to keep up the entertaining writing, haha. thank you for your sweet words! p.s. do you have an email address at which i could respond to your comments? if you prefer to maintain your privacy, i totally understand. i just find it more efficient to receive and send comment responses via email, so i like to do that whenever possible! :]
this is touching my sis. touching.
Wow. There were two children from the same family that died...and not the parents. And an old husband and wife couple. And parents in their 30's who probably had little kiddos. I'll be praying also. Thanks for the reminder that this was tragic.
You were sitting on the front porch, deep in thought. I wondered what you were thinking. Thank you for sharing your heart. We, along with many others, will never forget that night.
Mom
My sister-in-law is at the Law School in Tuscaloosa. The tornado went right between where she was the their apartment. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose her.
Wow. That is just so tragic! They are all definitely in my prayers.
this is heartbreaking. my prayers go out to their families.
That is heartbreaking.
I'm always shoked by news like this, how so many lives can be taken so quickly, and by nature !? so sad.
Also, I wanted to say thank you for visiting my blog, and your comment! So nice of you! :o)
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