I
was born in Joplin, Missouri, at the hospital that wasn’t destroyed by the
tornado.
I
grew up in Webb City, Missouri, the next town over. Joplin is a football rival.
I
can’t tell you how many times I shopped at the WalMart that was destroyed.
I
went to college in Joplin. My school,
Ozark Christian College, opened the multipurpose building for the Red Cross
Disaster Relief Community Center.
Classrooms were used for overflow YMCA childcare, dorms were opened for
volunteer housing, and the chapel and rooms in the library were offered to
several displaced churches to use for their services.
I
moved to Texas in 2007, but I spent the first few days of May 2011 visiting
friends and family in Joplin. I remember
having this feeling that I needed to look around and really take everything in. It was a strange sense, but I obeyed. I had no idea that just a couple weeks later,
much of it would be gone.
I
haven’t been back yet to see the changes for myself, but one of the things I
love about Joplin are the trees. Large,
beautiful trees that are nothing like the “trees” I see here in west
Texas. And now, many of those trees have
been literally stripped of their glory.
There
are two or three blocks in Joplin that have these beautiful, older houses that
I always enjoy admiring when we’re in town.
They are not far from WalMart.
Google Earth shows that many of these houses are damaged or gone.
It’s
been a year since that day. Even with
all I’ve been told, I can’t imagine what life has been like in Joplin since May
22, 2011. I know that tornado shelters
have been built and warning systems are being reevaluated. But the rumble of a garbage truck in the
early morning or a darkening sky and quickening wind startles the people of
Joplin and brings everyone’s eyes to the sky.
They
city will rebuild, and has already been rebuilding, but the people will never
be the same.
Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how nature can change us.
when something that devastating happens to the places that are familiar, it's hard to walk away unchanged.
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