As everyone knows, Joplin was devastated by a F-5 tornado on May 22. I personally feel a tug at my heart to help my neighbors one hour away from me. When I went to volunteer there I realized that this storm did not just affect the weak or elderly. This storm has taken the lives of children as young as one, strong teenagers, people exactly my age shielding their children, and elderly alike. It somehow tore apart one side of a street while leaving the other side nearly untouched. What these pictures cannot show is that the destruction goes as far as you can see, 360 degrees surrounding you. Yesterday, I met several people that survived this deadly storm. One lady was at church playing the piano when she went to a hallway to wait out the storm. When the 45 seconds had passed, her husband was laying on top of her along with two concrete walls. Since she could not breathe, she literally told herself that this was how she would die. Her only thought was that in 3 minutes she would not be conscious to know the rest. Suddenly, young men from the "bars downtown" came and rescued them. Unfortunately, three others from the church did not survive. We met another man that described hiding in their basement with 9 other people. When looking at their house, I had to ask what I was looking at and where the house was that they were in. Thankfully, everyone in that house survived. He explained that all of this, pointing to his house of rubble, does not matter. It is all stuff and he is so grateful to have his family. My experiences made me grateful for a warm bed, running water, and my boys waiting for me at home ready for a squeeze!
So, on Saturday I go again, thanks for a husband that is more than willing to man the house alone while I go. On this trip I will be working along side my Dad, at a first aid station, giving lots of tetanus shots and mending wounds from the clean up effort.
On Day 4 we went to Pokagon State Park. It was a beautiful park with lots to do. We just went for the morning so we did the Nature Center, hiking, and a sandy beach.
Beautiful swans on the lake.
Jake dropping his ski in front of the cottage.
This boy loved the water!
I had not water skied in several years, but got up right away! I guess it is like riding a bike. I did have some pretty decent crashes while trying to drop a ski. Needless to say, I have some work with that!
Jake tubing with the boys. My boys took what we called the T.O.P (tube of putting) and the bigger kids took the T.O.D. (tube of death).
The Van Lear cousins
My all-time favorite picture from the week.
