Thankful for Tornado Safety

I’m beginning to think I’m bad luck. Since April, tornadoes have hit Huntsville, AL, my hometown, Tuscaloosa, AL, my college town, Ringgold, GA, near where I worked before I came to Patch, and, my current town.

And, amazingly, everyone I know is safe.

I remember editing from my bathtub on April 27 of this year. Earlier that night I was at a company dinner when I got a text that a tornado had hit my cousins and best friend’s apartment complex in Tuscaloosa. Neither of them were home when the storms hit.

One of my more mild-natured friends called me, screaming, yelling at me to get my mattress on top of me because the storms they had just seen in Tuscaloosa were headed my way.

I remember hearing that Huntsville had been hit by tornadoes and learning my parents’ home had been spared.

A few months later for Labor Day, I went to Alabama for the weekend. I remember my momma waking me up from a nap and saying, “They’re talking about Holly Springs on CNN.”

Do you know what a heart attack feels like? I do after that.

So, I reported remotely from Alabama that night until it was safe to head back here.

Through all of these storms—including the one today—I’ve been blessed. Everyone I know was unharmed. The tornadoes spared us this year.

And for that, I’m thankful.