25 Days later...

   As many of you know I live in Alabama , I used to be very wary of telling people that due to the Alabama stereotypes. But after 4-27-11 that has changed. I live in Northwest Alabama and our area was hit by many severe tornadoes, while I do not want to blog about that story due to the sadness I do want to share what is going on now.
A few days after the storm I donated a few baby things a girl who had lost everything, She and her 9 month old were in her apartment when it was picked up and dropped all around them, she shielded her baby with her own body and stood up after the storm to see nothing but the outside around her. When I met her she was in great spirits and happy to be alive. She had just gotten a rental car and temporary housing. I had a bed for her so I followed her to her new apartment. She passed the turn due to no landmarks or street signs. USARs were at every street corner, it looked like a movie set to me, a really bad movie set. We made it to her new home there were trees and power lines all over the ground, children played basketball on the courts as workers lifted lines and replace transformers right by. The air smelled like gas and pine with ammonia on the side. All  I could do was look around in shock. My 10 year old kept asking are those homes? I replied Once... The only way you could even tell there once stood a home were by the driveways and sidewalks.

 My aunt lost her home in the storms, yesterday she watched as workers knocked down her home, she stated "This would be so much easier if I was in Disneyland. Where is Ty yelling "Move That Bus"?  I am sure everyone is wishing it could be like a tv show. It has all been so surreal already.

Dip N Dots

Now it has been 25 days the donation drives are slowing down, the national news has continued on but it looks like it just happened yesterday. I know things can't be fixed over night, but I worry about the elderly lady who is still living in her home with the large tree sitting on her roof and the 20 foot hole in her yard, the power lines are laying in the ditch. I haven't seen workers anywhere in weeks. Most homes that had major damage have been torn down. But left in a pile where the home once stood with the front door sitting on top of the rubble, addresses are spray painted on each door to distinguish what home once stood there. I feel bad when I have to pass by and do nothing, I feel like I should stop help these people even with 4 kids sitting in the back seat.

These photos are not great, they are no meant to be my daughter took them from the back seat of my car, all she could say was "Oh my"