I know that it has been several days since I have written. Part of this is due to our loss of electricity, another part to the fact that Barry was in town for an extra long weekend, and part due to the fact that I've been a little out of the Writing Mood these last few days. But I'm back now, so here is my best effort at catching up.
To be completely honest, I don't remember too much about the early part of this day, Wednesday, April 27. I remember waking up sometime between 5:00 and 6:00 a.m. and hearing a storm outside. I fell back to sleep quickly and, when I woke up again, realized that our electricity was not working. Apparently, the first wave of a massive string of tornadoes and thunderstorms had passed over our area in the wee hours of the morning and had caused power outages in all parts of the city. My brother-in-law works for Alabama Power, and he was in Birmingham helping with the relief effort by that afternoon.
Canon went to OLS as usual, and I went to the hospital. Tera had gained more weight, now at 5 pounds 3 ounces (2349 grams). She was still on Room Air and holding her own. I'm sure that I held her at my normal times, around her 11:30 meal and her 2:30 meal, but I honestly don't remember, and I didn't write it down. I did get these pictures of her today.
Lydia came to visit us in the afternoon. When it was obvious that more storms were coming and that we wouldn't have much fun at Lydia's with no electricity, we started brainstorming ideas of what to do. I eventually invited ourselves to Jamie and Bob's house - they were graciously accepting of my invitation - and we made plans to take pizza over for our Tornado Party. Sam and Alicia would also meet us there.
I drug my feet a little bit and left the hospital about 5:00. It's hard to keep up with the Outside World in that place, and I guess I didn't really realize the severity of it all. My plan was to pick up Canon first, then get something from Lydia's, pick up the pizza on Lorna Road, and finally head to Bob and Jamie's. When I pulled onto Highway 31 (a major highway, by the way) at 5:00 on a work day and found this . . .
. . . I knew I was in trouble. No, I'm not talking about the odd-shaped clouds in the background. I'm talking about the fact that at 5:00 on a Wednesday, I am one of only a handful of people dumb enough to still be driving when there are tornadoes about 50 miles west of my very location. I turned on the radio to stay updated. The tornado was headed for Tuscaloosa at this point, and there were a number of other small towns whose names I didn't recognize that were being effected by smaller, but still severe storms. The radio announcers were demanding that everyone in these areas get to their "safe place" as quickly as possible. I kept driving to OLS.
I was a little relieved to see that I was not the last parent to pick up my child. There were three or four others still playing, and Canon was nice enough to rush back out to the car with me without too big of a fuss. My nerves were getting the better of me, and I was eager to get everything done as quickly as possible. As we drove through Homewood toward Lydia's house, the radio announced that the tornado was in Tuscaloosa, ripping through University Mall and causing immense devastation on McFarland Blvd. It was at this point, if I remember correctly, that lots of people started calling. All of them, like the radio announcers, demanding that I get to a safe place.
Because the roads were basically empty, I was able to drive a little faster than I normally would. I spent less than a minute at Lydia's, then bolted out the door to get the pizza. I wasn't actually worried about being in the tornado, but I didn't really want to be driving when it got close either. I pulled out my trusty iPhone and located Pizza Hut on Lorna Road. When I ordered it, I thought that it was on the end of Lorna Road that is about one minute from Lydia's house. My map showed me otherwise. It was on the other side of Lorna Road, about ten minutes away. I decided to go ahead and get it anyway. We've got to eat! Again, clear roads were a blessing, and we made it there quickly. I remember Canon asking incessantly if he could watch a movie. I think I said "No!" several times before choosing just to ignore him completely. He seemed to take the hint and didn't argue too much. He talked to himself a lot, thankfully unaware of how tangled my insides were. I saw a driver get in his car to make a delivery, and this eased my nerves the least little bit as we headed for Bob and Jamie's.
The rain picked up very suddenly, and the announcers were now demanding that all Birmingham residents find their "safe place." When I got on the interstate, I realized how many people were still out driving. I couldn't decide if this made me feel better that maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought, or worse that I was now grouped with these idiots still on the road when the already infamous Tuscaloosa Tornado was headed this way. I think it started when I left Lydia's, but my prayers became automatic and continuous at this point.
"Lord, please protect us. That's what you do. You love and protect, so you're going to protect us now. Lord, please protect us." Over and over again. Minutes later, the reporters announced that the tornado, whose funnel was rumored to be nearly a mile wide, was headed straight for downtown Birmingham. Specifically, UAB.
"Lord, protect Tera. That's what you do. You love and protect, so you're going to protect Tera. Lord, please protect Tera."
At some point I started crying, at which point my prayers were broken up with "Moron! Stop crying! You're vision is already blurred with the rain. The tornado's not going to kill you. You are!" That dried the tears, I think. Meanwhile, Canon was still sitting in the back, still sporadically begging to watch Thomas the Train or Veggie Tales. He eventually switched to a game of Peek-a-Boo. Once we were safely in Mountain Brook and within minutes of Bob and Jamie's house, I reluctantly played along. I allowed his oblivity to calm my fears and let me somewhat enjoy these minutes with him. The tornado had steered just north of downtown by the time we got to the house. The hospital was safe, and so were we.
"Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Jesus!"
We watched the news while we ate pizza. Canon and Eleanor played innocently and naively. Oh, to be a child again, when you're biggest worries are "Who's going to give me my next piece of pizza?" and "What color should I use to scribble on this Sesame Street character?"
Before I even had a chance to think about calling the hospital, Tera's nurse called me to assure me that everything was fine. Tera is in a window room, right across the street from the construction of the new Children's Hospital. One of my biggest concerns was that debris from the construction site would blow through her window. Of course, the windows and shades are built to withstand such things, and she's in an Isolette so nothing could really get to her anyway. But still, a mother worries. I was happy to hear that when the hospital staff got the news that the tornado was supposed to hit downtown Birmingham, they pulled all of the Window Babies into the hall and prepared for an evacuation, just in case. The nurse told me that, in case of evacuation, she would just put Tera in one of the pockets of her Evacuation Apron, and they would make a run for it. I thought she was kidding, but when I arrived the next day, I understood what she meant. The nurses have to wear bright orange aprons with four pockets - two in front and two in back. The babies are wrapped up and dropped inside, and the nurse pulls a portable oxygen tank on the way out the door. I'm so glad it never came to this.
This picture was in Tera's room when I came in the next day.
Her first Tornado Drill. I'm sure she's all tucked in with her head down, just as she should be.
We stayed at Bob and Jamie's for awhile, glad to be safe but dreading returning to an unlit house. Canon went to bed immediately, and Lydia and I were not far behind. Barry left Dothan to drive to Birmingham at a time that we all thought would allow him to avoid the storms. He managed to drive very slowly through the last of it all in Clanton and was at Lydia's before midnight. Always living in my bubble, I was wrapped up in the joy that my family was all in one piece and all in the same city. For the next several hours, I remained fairly oblivious to what had just happened in our neighboring communities.
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