Perspective & Opportunity

I am heartbroken for another Oklahoma family. When the tornado went through our metro area this past Tuesday evening, a Piedmont family lost not only their home, but two young sons as well.

This is the story as I know it. I believe it to be accurate, but I’m piecing it together from various sources.

The father of the family was out of town. As the storm approached the mother, who is pregnant, took cover in the family’s bathtub (which is recommended procedure if you can’t get underground) with her three children. When the half-mile wide tornado hit, it tore their home apart and ripped the 3 year old boy from his mother’s arms.  I know the mother is is critical condition & has undergone several surgeries already. They did find the baby’s heartbeat. The 5 year-old daughter is in serious condition, but she is expected to be okay. The 15 month old boy did not make it. About 36 hours after the tornado the body of the 3 year old was finally found.

You guys, I can not fathom what this family is going through. Can. Not. I have cried numerous tears for this family. This family I do not know. I broke down in my kitchen and sobbed uncontrollably yesterday. I feel a kind ship with this mom because our boys where close to the same ages.  My heart is heavy for them.

This family’s story has given me a healthy dose of perspective. I have hugged & kissed on my boys so much they are sick of it. I have a thousand times more patience with them than I was having. It has been a reality check to me about just what precious gifts my boys are. I cherish the time I have with them. Really cherish every minute. That word—PERSPECTIVE—has constantly been in my head.

Also?

I want to help. But where do you begin? So, I did the one thing I could & prayed for them. And I will continue to do that.

But yesterday another opportunity presented itself. And the best part is that you can help too. This might be a pipe dream, but it is worth a shot. This community is pushing to get Extreme Makeover Home Edition (EMHE) to build this family a new home.

Here’s where you come in.

Go on over to EMHE’s facebook page. On the left hand side of the page you will see a discussions link. Click on it & find the discussion titled  “Help Rebuild the home of the Hamil Family” & and a reply in support of this family. (There are several discussion threads for this family, PLEASE find the one by this title because I believe that is the only one that counts as far as nominations go.)

That’s it. In as little as 5 minutes you could do a small part in helping this family begin to piece their life back together. The question is,

Will you?

***PLEASE PASS THIS INFORMATION ALONG TO ANYONE & EVERYONE. THIS FAMILY NEEDS SUPPORT.***

Loosening Apron Strings

They took off.

The kids—Sweetie Pie & his twin 10 year old cousins—took off in a sprint down the uncrowded path of the River Walk. Blurs of brightly colored shirts & their blonde hair streaked in my line of view. And just as that momma freak-out, panic feeling started creeping in & I was about to yell screech for them to come back, they all stopped, as if on cue, & looked back to let us all catch up. 

They were never in any danger. They weren’t running over other people on the path.  They didn’t get very far ahead of us…maybe 40 feet ahead. They were just being kids letting some energy out.

And my inner helicopter mom was beginning to surface. I was hovering—or about to hover.

It was then I realized that my 4-year-old is growing up. Sweetie Pie is capable of much more than I give him credit for. Than I’m ready to give him credit for. These years are going by in the blink of an eye.

He can run with his cousins. No problem. He isn’t going to fall into the river. He can hang upside down on the railing of the stairs without falling. He can slide down those same rails. He can play rough & be fine.

As much as I want to stop the clock, as much as I want him to be little forever, it’s not going to happen.

It’s ALREADY time for me to BEGIN to ever-so-slightly loosen the apron strings. Which isn’t going to be easy.  Because , you know, we all have the helicopter mom in us. I now have to control her.

Lesson Learned

I don’t know why. I have no good reason. But I never believed that kids could pull furniture down. Just seemed impossible to me.

Until my boys did it.

I was loading the dishwasher, & I heard one of my boys cry out from the back of the house. The water in the sink was running so I couldn’t tell which boy it was, but I thought they were playing and one had taken a toy or wrestled the other too much & the cry was just a protest cry. The tattle cry. Not at all uncommon around our house.

And I only had a few more dishes to load. So I finished.

As soon as I turned the water off, I heard the cry again. This time I knew it was a distress cry.

And I ran.

To the back of the house.

To Sweetie Pie’s bedroom.

To the cry that was Sweetie Pie.

As I entered his room, where I should have seen the blue wall opposite the door, I saw wood. The pine, stained wood of the chest of drawers. Laying at a diagonal. The top resting on the foot board of the bed.

Everything normally on top of the chest was thrown across the bed. The blocks that spelled Sweetie Pie’s name. The clothes I had folded earlier but hadn’t had a chance to put away yet.  The pictures of my boys.

All I could hear was the cry of my son.

I couldn’t see him.

I had no idea where Boogaboo was.

Panic filled my blood. I felt it in my entire body as my heart rate rose.

I heard movement to my right. A quick glance revealed Boogaboo standing there. Safe.

My mind raced. I could hear Sweetie Pie but could not see him.

After what was hours in my head, but what was only mere seconds in reality, I heard a “I’m alright, mommy.” through his tear-strained voice.

It was then I looked under the chest of drawers and saw him. Crouched down on the floor.

Unharmed.

I later found out he had climbed up the drawers to reach something he wanted on top of the chest & pulled it over in the process.  Thankfully, he had the where-with-all to drop to the floor when it started falling.

I sat and held my boys for a long time after that. Ever so thankful the situation was not worse & neither of my boys were harmed. We came away scared but smarter. The only physical damage done to the furniture itself.

Needless to say we will be securing the furniture to the walls.

Learn from my mistake. Because I can’t stop thinking about how much worse it could have been.