The tornado that never was

This is turning out to be the night that just won't end. I had finally decided to succomb to the dreams that awaited me after endulging in a "Top Chef" rerun after midnight, when I was brought back to consciousness by the La Porte City tornado siren around 1:30 this morning. It is just one of those moments when you could really use a pinch to determine if you are actually experiencing life or not.

At our house, Shane & I share a room upstairs and just adjacent to us is Lizzie's room in our split foyer home. I instinctively decided to grab Lizzie and carry her down to the basement where the other three sleep. She came to as we raced downstairs and of course thought it a little odd that I would be carrying her around anywhere - she is almost 9 years old. Once we got down there we discovered that Gabe was still coherent and watching television in our family room. Now that might seem a little odd, but I had allowed both my older two to have a kind of improtu camp out downstairs where they could celebrate the end of the school year and surviving dad's send-off. Lizzie had given in to the call of the night and had retired up to her room. Gabe, of course will do just about anything to make the night last. Anyway, he had heard the siren, but for some reason was out enough to just kind of tune it out while catching one of his favorite shows. As I set Lizzie on the couch, he just kind of looked at me like "what are you doing?". I quickly grabbed the remote and flipped it over to channel seven and Jeff Kennedy's accurate forecasting to see what the story was. It appeared that the storm was approximately five to ten miles outside of La Porte City, which made sense because I hadn't even seen a flash of lightening or heard thunder or even a drop of rain.

It was a little eerie to be sitting in a kind of silence broken only by the shrill siren. I had no idea what was coming, but I decided that I needed to get the kids in our closet under the stairs. Gabe and Lizzie quickly made their way with their blankets, while I tried to keep an ear to the news. It was a little difficult to make myself go into Sam & Cora's room, where they lay sleeping ever so deeply. I grabbed Cora first and laid her in the middle of a comforter that I had laid out on the floor of the closet. Gabe & Lizzie squeezed in the back amongst rubbermaids and other odds and ends. I had the door slightly ajar and kept watching and listening to what Jeff was predicting. It looked like another 20 minutes and the threat would pass. Now the phone is ringing. Is it Steph, grandpa and grandma, who? No, it is my special friend Nicole. She is sitting around 12 miles away in Waterloo watching tv after getting a call from her mom. She is concerned and just had to make sure her newly seperated friend was okay. I am relieved to here a very familiar voice and to know that someone cares so much about me and the kids. We are now just under five minutes from the front edge of the storm passing through so I reassure Nicole that I am as safe as I can be and decide that it is time to scoop up Sam and hunker down for the next ten minutes or so.

Gabe is unbelievably serene and actually trying to comfort Lizzie. Lizzie is visibly shaken and is voicing her every concern. Cora is peacefully resting, completely unaware of the situation. Sam is restless in my arms, but uncharacteristically silent. We sit and wait. I can barely make out what the weatherman is saying. I sense that we are going to be fine. I can't help but wonder what Shane would think if he could see us now. I remember that the very first night we spent in our new home some nine months ago was also punctuated by a siren in the night. There we sat huddled on the only piece of furniture we had in the basement, while the storm raged outside. "How odd", I think. I am relieved as the minutes continue to pass by with no sign of danger. The rapid rate of breathing in our cramped closet has slowed to a slow and steady sigh amongst the kids. The threat has passed and I decide to place my restless little boy back into his bed. The other three remain cuddled together as I take a personal look at the radar and a quick look upstairs to confirm that we are in the clear. Everything looks good, so it is back down to retrieve my little Cora and place her back where she assumes she has been all along. Gabe & Lizzie slowly step out and make their way to the couch where they can see for themselves that everything is good.

Gabe quickly is relaxed and ready to get back to his late night adventure. Lizzie is still shaking and feels cold and unsure. I sit and comfort her. She decides that the basement seems like a safer option for the rest of the night, so she snuggles in opposite Gabe on the couch. I slowly make my way around the basement to make sure that all is well. It has been a half an hour now as I make my way back upstairs to my room. I almost chuckle as I think about the way in which this whole deployment is starting off. I am grateful that I have not had to bear the burden that a serious storm might have brought into our lives. I am thankful that God had granted me the ability to comfort my children in their time of need.

I am now laying in bed an hour later completely wide awake listening to the steady stream of rain and enjoying the sporadic light show throughout the sky. Lizzie has just made her way back upstairs to her bed. She, like me, would almost always rather be in her own special place if given the choice. Gabe has just come up and informed me that he can't sleep and thinks that tonight would be the best night for him to try and stay up all night, which apparently is every 11 year olds dream. I quickly advise him to get back down stairs and get some sleep. I am now realizing that that is easier said than done. Here I lay in my bed at 3:24 a.m. furiously typing on my laptop wondering when I may be able to return to the sleep I so desperately need. The first step would probably be to get off this crazy thing. I just couldn't help myself. I had to document our first night home without Shane. Hopefully we won't have to repeat our tornado drill anytime soon. I guess when I told Shane that it was time for us to hunker down - I didn't expect it to be literal. :) God is so good to me. He is all I will ever need. I can only imagine what He might bring my way tomorrow.