Just when you think you are starting to succeed in your life, life decides to kick you in the teeth. I can honestly say I did not expect 12 hours of hell.
We made a 7-hour trip to Missouri last weekend to celebrate our youngest grandson’s 1st birthday. My daughter and middle grandson went with us. That was an adventure in itself.
We got to see family and friends that we hadn’t seen in a long time and my husband got to meet some of my family. It was a great Saturday. Watching him open his presents and smash his birthday cake was amazing! I love those beyond words. We spent all day just enjoying our time off from the homestead, which doesn’t happen very often.
After the celebration, everyone was leaving and we were getting ready to leave ourselves, we got a call from my mother-in-law. Thats when the hell started. She called to say we had a horrible storm and our brand-new roof (that was only a year old) was gone. She seen dirt kick up, lift the roof up and just rolled it in a ball. She was watching from her dining room while this all took place. She said it was swirling like a tornado.
She didn’t want to call with that horrible news but didn’t want us to drive up to see our home destroyed. The only thing I asked of her was to see if she could safely go into our home and retrieve my late husband’s ashes. I really didn’t want to see his wooden urn destroyed. She was able to get them and took them home with her.
We knew it didn’t sound good, but we were 7 hours from home. What could we do there. We were tired and knew we could not make the drive home that night.
After making the decision to stay the last night in Missouri, we went to see a couple of my dearest friends that I had promised to stop and see. We didn’t stay long but I needed to redirect my thoughts elsewhere. It was a good visit at least.
Making it back to the motel and getting very little rest, we left the next morning after going and picking up my dog from my dad’s house and saying our goodbyes. Giving my babies hugs and kisses always makes me feel better. I hugged my daughter in law and told her I loved her. We were on our way home to see what fate awaited us.
2 1/2 hours into our trip and we received a call from my son… this is where my absolute hell started. I don’t care about material items. My husband, kids, and grandsons are my entire life. The call came in and panic started, my daughter in law rolled my late husband’s 4Runner with my oldest and youngest grandson in the vehicle. We didn’t know if they were okay or not. We knew nothing at this point.
As I was still talking to my son, I pulled up her location on my phone (yes, we keep track of each other’s locations for safety reasons). I told him her exact location, he said “mom, I’m doing 103 mph, I’m on my way”. My heart was in my throat, I could barely talk, I was bawling. My daughter and my babies, were they okay?
A few minutes later and we got a text from my girl. Yes, they were alive! She was bleeding from the mouth. The boys were ok! Some kind people stopped and helped her get the boys out of the 4Runner. My son showed up and made sure his family was okay.
For what seemed like hours we waited. They were taken to the emergency room and checked out. My daughter in law had a concussion and had to have her lip sewed back together. My oldest grandson had a small goose egg on his head but other than that he was perfectly fine. My 1-year-old grandson came out without even a mark on his body. I have never been so thankful for anything in my entire life. I just had the worst images going through my head. I don’t know what I would do if I had lost any of them.
I am a firm believer that we have spirits around us. I honestly believe that my late husband was there with them, he protected them. When he was still alive those boys and his family were everything to him. I know Big Daddy was there.
12 hours of hell and everyone was okay. My home not so much. All the tin off the roof was laying in the pasture east of our barn, except what landed southwest of the barn on a neighbor’s property.
Clean up began. We went straight to Menards and got everything we needed to button down the roof. My mother-in-law drove my daughter and grandson home. Everything was starting. We were able to reinsulate and get decking put up on the east side of the house before the end of Monday. On Tuesday morning we started the west side, the side that took the most damage.
Our nephew and my mother-in-law came to help. We were able to get insulation put back in, decking on and throw Tyvek on before nightfall. Everything is buttoned up for the next storm. We are an amazing team! I’m so thankful for my husband and family. I cannot express how grateful I am that everyone is okay. My home can be replaced but my family cannot.
Now off to deal with the insurance company.
0903 Homestead 