Yes, my friends, this happened to me last week. I was on my way home, at 75 and Mockingbird in Dallas. The sun was shining and it was hot. Suddenly there's a Public Service Announcement regarding a tornado warning heading straight for Waxahachie. I ,like any other calm, collected person, panic. I pick up the phone and call my husband, who's at home with our daughter. He answers and sounds as if all is right with the world. I inform him of my findings and we hang up. It's now 2:15pm and the tornado is due at 2:45. I am 35-40 minutes away. Please keep in mind, our precious Ethan and Corbin get released from school at 2:50...right when the tornado is due to strike. I am hauling booty down the highway, trying everything I can to get my boys and home before 2:45.
Ya see, Corbin hates thunderstorms. It will thunder and lightening and he asks if a tornado is coming, all the while trying to hold back tears. Now, this time, a tornado IS coming and he and big brother are AT SCHOOL, not with mommy and daddy. My heart was breaking. How scared they must be.
I get a call from my darling husband asking me where I am. He also notifies me that he is outside and that it looks WICKED. NOT what you want to hear.
I drive faster and faster. I get on 35 with just a bit of sprinkles. It's now 2:35. I have 10 minutes. I have no idea what the heck happened but as soon as I hit Red Oak Rd the flood/hail gates opened. I was terrified. Never in my life have I driven through rain that hard. Much less hail. Much less knowing I have mere minutes to get home. The people on the road were moving at snails pace. Probably a smart thing considering the circumstances. Not me, my adrenalin was pumping and I didn't care. I needed to get home. As I exit the highway, it's 2:42pm. I have 3 minutes. It's raining so hard now that trying to get the boys from school is impossible. I get home, run in and thank God I made it. Looking back, I'm really not sure how I got home. Just know I did. That gratefulness was immediately halted when I realize my boys still aren't here and the tornado is due to strike NOW.
Our stinking' satellite isn't working, so I have to get Tots radio to hear the news alerts. I was in tears. Heartbroken. Scared to death.
The boys are due to get out at 2:50 but with the weather like it was, we(Matt)decided the safest place for them was at school as the structure is better. Not safe in the car at all. I am still terrified.
We get a call on our phones at 3pm(WISD has alerts sent anytime something important needs to be passed along), 10 minutes after the boys are due out. The little ladies voice on the other end of the line lets us know that due to the gravity of the situation, the school has been put in LOCKDOWN. No one going in and most definitely no one coming out. They will call again when the kids are released. I start to cry even harder at this point. I am a basket case. I call my mom hysterical and ask her to pray.
2:45 comes and goes and the tornado either went around us or above us. We weren't touched. No signs of anything other than rain, hail and heavy winds. We were spared.
We get the call at 3:45, almost an hour after the boys were due home. They have been in the hallways of the school, on their knees, hands over heads and on lockdown for over an hour. How scared they must be.
Matt gets the boys and heads home. By this time, I'm talking to my brother on the phone who lives in CT. The front door opens and there stands my 2 perfect boys. I tell my brother I will call him back...I think, I have just hung up. I grab them both, hug them, and start to cry again. I ask Corbin(the one I was sure was horrified) if he was scared. He simply looks at me and says "No mamma, I didn't even know there was a tornado." He turned and walked off to play. I then ask Ethan if he was scared. He looks at me and says "No, I was scared for ya'll...and uncle Brian and Nikki." I laughed, he smiled and was off to join his brother. Ya see, the funny thing with him being scared for Brian and Nikki is the fact that they live in CT, 3000 miles away and safe from the tornado. He didn't know I had been talking to him as he walked thru the door. His sweet little soul was just thinking of them.
So, after almost 2 HOURS or hell, tears and panic, our boys were home, safe and sound...right where they belong. And for that, my friends, I am thankful:-)
Again, I say, hug and kiss your kids as much as you can and cherish EVERY moment. Even the stressful ones. They could be gone all too soon.
I love them boys...they bring us all so much joy. WE ARE BLESSED!!!
