Tornados

I grew up in Oklahoma, so I've had a lot of experience with tornados. When I was growing up we had a cellar that was carved into the earth. It was damp and musty smelling. You had to go down a pig path to get there, my Granddaddy always kept the weeds cut back so the path was easy for my Grandma to travel. We would go there as long as my Granddaddy was alive, but after he died my Grandmother wouldn't go anymore. She said there could be snakes down there. Well that was all I needed to hear and there was no chance I'd ever darken the cellar again! And to this day I'd rather take my chances with a tornado instead of a snake.

But my Grandmother was tough so we just waited out the tornado warnings. She'd say stay away from the windows, but other than that she showed no fear. With every bolt of lightening and clap of thunder my Grandmother would tell me not to worry "Granddaddy just turned over the tater wagon." For some reason I found comfort in that, and tornado warnings (we didn't have sirens in those days) no longer made me fearful.

The other night as a storm blew in Dan and I sat in the screened in porch watching it rain. It was peaceful. We were totally relaxed. Unfortunately, my youngest child doesn't find storms to be calming. On Friday night the sirens went off three times and I thought he might have a heart attack. He wants to know the plan. I tried to be patient and retell him that we can go in the bathroom, which is in the center of the house. He is looks at me like I've lost my mind. He kept wondering where his Daddy was, I said asleep. This did not bring him comfort. "How can Daddy sleep through this?" I've tried to tell Dan he needs to be up looking around so Gabe will feel more secure, but Dan kept snoring! I'm not as reassuring as my Grandmother was.

So while I love storms and have many memories of near misses, I'm afraid Gabe will never be comfortable during a storm. I hope he has a cellar.