Fragile

 

Today's reports of the storms down south (yet again) remind us all how quickly things can change.  My friend Gary Franklin, and his beautiful family live in the Tuscaloosa area, and I was thankful to hear that they were spared by the tornadoes that ripped through his and other states.  But so many families weren't so lucky, and my heart goes out to them.

In my career as a writer, I have had the opportunity to meet two families who had their homes destroyed by tornadoes, and the trauma and loss they suffered stays with me to this day.  I remember one woman telling me how, even after the tornado was long gone, they had to sit vigil at their home so that looters and other people wanting to snap pictures or even wander around, would leave them alone.  I saw on the news that some of the people affected by recent storms have been going through the same painful process.

Human nature puzzles me much of the time.  Can you imagine going to someone's house in hopes of finding their precious heirlooms or jewelry in and amongst the rubble that was once their home?!  It just goes to show that some people don't have a heart or a conscience if they could actually do something like that to someone who has lost so much.

Today, as I worked on my website and other stuff, I found I was much less likely to get frustrated at all of the little things that weren't going right.  I think the news reports helped remind me that in an instant what we know as normal can be flipped on it's head.  Life is fragile friends, and I hope those affected will find a way to pick up the shattered pieces and move on the way the families in my stories did.  Theirs was a happy ending, where tragedy became triumph and where they appreciate every day just that much more!