Sunday, May 20, 2007

Some weeks I sit here and try to pick through the corners of my brain to think of even one thing worth writing about…and today I have so many thoughts zooming through, I can’t pin one down long enough to make a coherent bit of anything.

This week, I flew to Kansas to spend a few days with my sister, brother-in-law, and niece. The trip was a good one…if good is an appropriate word to use, considering the circumstances. The things I have to share are rather scattered, so I’ll just make a list of the things that stood out the most from this week. And maybe by the time I come back next week, I’ll have enough of a collected brain to get back to writing like normal.

* The pictures I’d seen, both on the news and from the three rolls of film my Mom and Dad brought back from their trip, adequately prepared me for what I saw in person. It was just bigger in person. The strangest feeling was walking up and down the streets and staring at the rubble and feeling guilty for staring at people’s personal lives. A widespread invasion of privacy.

* The strength of spirit in this town is just amazing. Obviously they hurt, but everywhere you went, there were signs that said things like “Newly installed skylight” or “For Sale: Indoor Pool.” And nearly anyone you talk to, no matter how much they’ve lost, will insist that they are among the fortunate and that so many more are in much worse shape.

* I rode with Lori out to the home of some people who are keeping the belongings they were able to salvage. To see their entire home reduced to less than a quarter of a 2 ½ car garage was a little tough to swallow. It made me want to come home and pack up a big chunk of my house and drive it out to them.

* Even as I sit here writing this, I’m glancing around my own house and feeling the need to start a list of what I have, so that if the need for it should ever arise, I’d have it – because watching them try to remember what was in the house was overwhelming to me. Magnify that by 10,000 and that’s the sense of being overwhelmed that they feel.

* Several times throughout the week, I listened to them remember something else that they’d not seen…and the mix of sadness and resignation became a familiar event by the end of the week.

* I came home with a sense of “I want to be like my big sister.” Right there in the middle of loss, she offered up her borrowed bed to her company, spent some of her money on a birthday gift for me, made it her mission to have meals at home for us – and not off the Red Cross wagon, and even made sure we got free t-shirts for our volunteer efforts. Amazing.

* Speaking of volunteer efforts, I did spend a morning helping with cleanup. I took a picture, as I’m sure many of you are skeptical of my participation in manual labor. It was hard to just pick up trash…I wanted to dig and find a treasure. But most of the treasure finding had passed by the time we arrive. But I did find a couple of Cassie’s sports medals!

* While I was out in that part of Kansas, I was able to spend about an hour visiting with my former pastor’s wife, Naomi. When I’d flown out last fall to watch Cassie play volleyball, Mom and I went to see Fred and Naomi. I’d not seen them – probably since I was in elementary school and they moved on from our church. Less than a month after that visit, Pastor Fred died. I was so glad we’d gotten to see them then, and I was excited to see Naomi again. She and I chatted about life, Fred, and a little bit of everything else.

* I also learned, in non-tornado-related news, that I actually do enjoy flying! I wasn’t sick this time, so the take-off wasn’t nearly so painful. AND – the best perk of the whole trip – on our very last flight, we were upgraded to first class! THAT is the way to go. Ahhh, the leg room, the elbow room, the snacks, and the real glasses! Amazing. Not sure how it happened, but YAY!!!

I’m sure there’s much more that I’m forgetting…but that was the week in a nutshell. Hopefully by next week, my normal brain cells will be back in place and I can once again write something sensible!