As one of my Facebook friends from my hometown put it -- Well for some of us the crazy guy who predicted the end of the world yesterday wasn't too far off. The hospital where I work is gone and our world as we knew it is gone.
Growing up in little Oswego, Kansas, Joplin, Missouri was the place. We went there for Saturday shopping, trips to the optometrist, movies, restaurants, and Sunday drives. And since I've left, St. John's has become the regional medical center family and friends have relied on for life-saving heart surgery and other serious medical needs. And as trivial as it seems now, even last year when I made my July Kansas trip, friends and I made our pilgrimage to Joplin to shop our favorite antique malls and have lunch at a downtown restaurant.
I grew up in what the rest of the country calls Tornado Alley. Over the years, we've had a few close calls where we crouched in basements or cellars, but we were always fortunate enough to never witness the type of devastation I'm watching this morning on CNN.
My heart goes out to Joplin. It's just unimaginable.
4 comments:
I thought of you this morning when I saw this on TV. It is just so unbelievable! Hope all your family & friends are safe.
Prayers for the folks in Joplin, and other tornado-prone areas... it's been a bad season already!
Linda
SG
I was so sorry to hear about Joplin. I'm ready for tornado season to be over, but then comes hurricane season! Yikes!
It's been a horrible tornado season. Let's hope there's no correlation with the type of hurricane season. We're pretty lucky here in Arizona. We have extreme heat and monsoonal storms, but nothing that devastates as much as tornados, hurricanes, and earthquakes.
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