We were tired and jet-lagged, and thrilled to be on the GROUND after almost 20 hours straight of turbulence. I just wanted to check in with my family and let them know we had landed.... and maybe "vent" a little to my mom about the horrible flight we'd just endured. But I wasn't ready for the news she had for me.
"A tornado hit Alabama," she said, "and it's bad. Actually, it wasn't just one tornado - they don't know how many there were. They just kept dropping out of the sky.... It was HORRIBLE! We're all fine, but the damage is bad. It hit Piedmont, and Cullman, and several other areas, and..... TUSCALOOSA IS GONE."
Now, say what you want to about the Auburn/Alabama rivalry and how much we hate each other if you will.... I have certainly made my share of nasty comments about the U of A and how much I detest even traveling through the city of Tuscaloosa. But when my mother made that statement, all I thought about were my friends there - my old roommate Caroline, my mission partner Jenny, my brother's girlfriend Michelle, our friends and supporters The Millers, and all my friends from my Miss Alabama Pageant days. I felt like my heart was in my throat.
"What do you mean GONE?!" I asked. "It's just gone baby," Mom said, "You wouldn't believe the damage. There are 158 people dead and hundreds more missing. You just need to pray."
I was in shock hearing the news that my state, my Sweet Home Alabama, had been destroyed... but I didn't really understand the devastation until I saw the pictures. We managed to find a wireless internet connection from our neighbor's house that night (ours had been disconnected while we were gone) and I gasped as I saw the proof. I just couldn't believe the scenes I was seeing could possible be ALABAMA! They looked like something out of a disaster movie!
