So Greatful...

   It's no secret that I am terrified of severe weather. I knew about two days ahead of time that yesterdays storms were going to be pretty bad. Turns out that they were far worse than expected. Two different storm systems were coming through so we were predicted to have 48 hrs worth of severe tornado producing storm systems. Tuesday night was pretty calm. I expected Chis to be home with Kal-el and I bc he was a few out on the call board. I was especially grateful for this due to the fact that in the late night hours of the first round of bad weather would be comming through our area. We decided to go to the store and make some chilli. The evening was going great UNTIL Chris got his call. The worse part was that he got called for a relief job in Memphis. Basicly meaning he would be traveling in his own vechicle to the Memphis yard. This would normally not be an issue but the severe weather was already underway in that area. There was already a tornado warning in effect. My heart sank. I pleaded with him not to go. I knew that he didn't have much of a choice but I was so worried. My anxiety completely took over. I prayed for his safety the entire time he was on the road.
   Soon afterwards I started watching the incoming radar for our area as well. I made the descision, after seeing how quickly the system was moving towards us, that Kal-el and I would go have a little sleep over at Uncle Zach's and Aunt Lea's. They have a basement and I knew that in my condition that I could not function staying at home with all of the trees surrounding our home and no basement. I love spending time with them anyway and really missed seeing them this Easter so Super and I made the short drive over. Soon after we arrived I got the call from Chris Bear letting me know that inspite of driving thru a 15 min hail storm, that he had arrived safe and sound in Memphis. Thank God! Super fell asleep on the couch and Zach, Lea, and I stayed up until about 12:30 and talked, laughed and enjoyed each others company. When we couldn't hold our eyes open any longer Kal-el and I said our goodnights and  made our way down to the bedroom in the basement. It seems like we had just gotten asleep when the dreaded sirens went off. In actuality, we had gotten 3 hours of sleep but it certainly didn't feel that way. I remember thinking how grateful I was that I had made the decision to spend the night with Zach and Lea. We hung out in the lowest part of the basement, (which thankfully is concrete), until the warning passed. It really helped ease my fears. I was able to drift back to sleep once we returned to bed. I knew that I needed as much rest as I could get because Wednesdays storms were supposed to hit our area the hardest.
  I woke up bright and early at 8am to my sweet little boy squeezing my checks, smiling at me and saying "Momma, Momma." I went ahead and got up with him. I decided that we would go home, eat, clean up, and wait on Chris before heading back over for the worst part of the storms. I called Chris on my way back and he was already home and said he wanted to rest for a bit after working all night and he would take us back over in a few hours. As Kal-el and I pulled into our drive way..I heard the worst sound ever. The tornado sirens. You have got to be kidding me?!?! To make a long story short Chris and I decided to drive back over since they only live about 5 min away in case all the bad stuff was starting early. I won't lie ....I was a baseket case spaz during that 5 min drive..in a tornado WARNING. I practically BEGGED my husband to run stop signs. He kept saying "I need to make sure we get there safely" I swear it felt like he was driving in slow motion and in my state of panic I was aggitated and pretty much hysterical. Once we arrived to safety and made our way back to the basement I had to endure Chris and Zach doing reenactments of my meltdown! I finally started laughing...I had to. I know how I can be in a crisis and they are hysterical :)
 We basicly had to suffer several hours of very scary warnings. They were literally back to back. I've never experienced anything like that. We even got a call once from Aunt Vicki saying that the Colbert Court house had been hit. We all made a beeline for the basement since the court house is right down the road from us. We got behide the couch and threw cushions over us. Chris, who is not the least bit scared of weather even looked concerned. Kal-el hated being held down and had no clue why we were behind a couch. We huddled together and waited..and waited..and waited..ONLY to get a call 15 min later to tell us that she meant to say CULLMAN county court house. Chris and Zach almost instantaneously throw the cushions in the air and announced that they were going upstairs to get on the 360. When everything seemed to die down in the early evening hours Lea and I went upstairs to bake a strawberry and peach cobbler.
  We sat down and started watching the tv. The areas just south and west of us were getting completely destroyed. Homes and businesses were being ripped apart. It seemed like so many warnings were popping up that they could barely get one reported before another hit. We later learned that a record was broken for the number of tornados at one given time. So scary. I watched a few reports in disbelief. When I heard that almost all of the city of Phil Campbell was GONE , an entire trailor park was blown away, and that Tuscaloosa was getting hit very hard I lost it. I stared at my child running around, happy smiling, and safe and I knew that in those areas they were probably children who didn't even make it. My greatest fear was more than likely another mothers reality at the same moment in time. The thought ripped my heart out. We still don't know the official death toll in some areas but there is a lot of loss and devastation in the areas surrounding us. I honestly don't know how it missed us. We have some damage for sure but no loss of life. I want to help with the relief effort. Not sure what all I can do in this state but God has laid it on my heart to help in some way. I know one thing for sure. I will cherish moments with my family even more than ever. They are my world and I am so so greatful that we are all safe many weren't so fortunate.