Louisiana, now in Arkansas, emails her friend a letter from the van as her husband, Bill, drives. They are on their way home back to Tennessee from Louisiana, where they went to a friend's wedding.
Monday, the 13th of September, 2004, 10:21 A.M., C.S.T.~
Dear Phoebe:
I was so happy you got my email; and I am happy that my Pepere is letting you, Linn, and Hanh stay at my house! It feels funny writing a letter to my own address; but I am glad you got there safely!
Boy, what a nasty lookin' sky you put on the picture! YIKES! I have seen the sky look exactly like that a time or two, and last year, it was lookin' especially frightful. We had a round of severe weather (a good part of the country did, actually!), and we had some tornadoes around the area (but none hit Nashville, thank goodness; but communities around us weren't so fortunate). We had more hail than anything else, BIG, serious hail, and last year, my daughter, Ronee', ended up in the hospital with a minor head injury when she got hit on the head with some golf ball-sized hail. She had gone to get the mail, and when she didn't come, I was starting to wonder what was keeping her. That was when I saw her lying sprawled out on the ground, not moving, and the mail scattered about her. Well! You can only imagine how I must have reacted! I screamed, and I immediately had Barbara get Ronee' and bring her into the house; and I had her call for an ambulance while I tended to her head wound. Her head was covered in blood, and she was so pale! It really frightened me; I thought she was dead, but then I saw her chest moving up and down with her breathing, and I was so relieved! She did end up in the hospital for a few days, and it was several hours before she came to. When she woke up, she was wondering what she was doing in the hospital, and she also had a killer-sized headache. She had bruises and huge welts all over her body, and it looked like somebody just beat the holy heck out of her! But about a week later, the bruises and the bumps were gone, and Ronee' was looking just like her normal self again!
I am glad to say that Ronee' is all over her "hail encounter", but the next time it hails, and she is out, I am going to make her wear her bicycle helmet! LOL NOT really, but I WILL make sure she does NOT get the mail until AFTER the storm has passed! LOL Once was more than enough!
Now during the severe weather event, my weather-fanatic son, Johnny, was in his glory: he was enjoying the wild and wooly weather, and his weather radio had a very good workout, so much, in fact, that I was more than ready to chuck it right out INTO the storm the next time it sounded off! We'd be asleep, and the durn thing would go off, sending us all runnin' towards the basement with wild abandon, and scaring us all halfway to death. Only Johnny remained unconcerned: he was enjoying the weather, and he wanted to watch the rain, hail, and lightning show that was going on outside; but when the tornado sirens went off, I grabbed him, and I told him to get into the basement with the rest of us before I brain him over the head with his weather radio! LOL I am sure that if he could, he would want to be a meteorologist when he grows up; he has always held a fascination with storms and weather in general, and he watches all the documentaries about weather. He also is a very regular viewer of the Weather Channel, and he has been on several weather chases already by the time he reached the age of 11, thanks to the Make-A-Wish and Sunshine Kids foundations for sick and terminally ill children.
By the way, in case you are wondering, Johnny wants to go on more storm chases in the future. He really had a ball on the chases he went to already, and he is looking forward to the spring (of which something I am NOT; I don't do tornadoes very well, thankyewverymuch! LOL)!
Now, you were asking me if I have been in any tornadoes or hurricanes. The answer to both questions is "Yes". We had a tornado come through Nashville four years ago, and that was quite exciting (no damage to our place, thank GOD! It hit more downtown than here, by us), and I have been through several hurricanes. I don't know which storm is worse: tornadoes or hurricanes. Both are downright scary in their own right, and both can cause significant damage to property and loss of life if people don't heed the warnings prior to the storms' arrival. But I have enough experience with both tornadoes and hurricanes to know what to do, and all we can do is wait until they pass and pray that nothing is damaged. Now, we DID have damage to our house back in June thanks to a very powerful storm that went through, but our church family at Christ Community Assembly of God helped us repair the damage, and they took care of us and helped us through the rough times. We also had a durecho move through on July 4th while we were at a festival (Ronee' was due to perform, but her set got cancelled, thanks to the threatening skies and the approaching storm); but it cleared out in time for the evening's entertainment, and the fireworks were a little later than usual, but they were worth the wait. We all got a little windblown, and there was stuff and trash all over; but the festival was spared, and so were we, thank God!
The wedding went without a hitch; no problems whatsoever. Jenna looked so beautiful in her wedding dress, and Michael looked so handsome! They were so happy, and it was so good to see Jenna smiling! Jenna has had a rough spell the past year, and she is still recovering from the effects of the accident, and she will now have to learn to live with disability for the rest of her life. She is walking again, I am glad to say, but she uses a Lofstrand crutch for short trips, and she mainly uses a wheelchair most of the other times. She is still unable to move her arm, but hopefully that will change soon with further physical and occupational therapy. Jenna also had surgery this year because of a pinched nerve, and she is still recovering from THAT. She is in a little pain, but nothing like she was prior to her surgery.
I met Michael's family, and he has quite a big family. He is one of THIRTEEN children! And get this: ALL of his brothers and sisters have names beginning with the letter "M"! And his mama, she is such a sweetie-pie! She is 85, but she doesn't look (or act) a day over 70! She also gets around better than ME! (Something is most definitely wrong when a little old lady gets around better than a 35-year-old! LOL)
I am glad that Linn and Hanh are there; I can't wait to see them! I really miss having them around; they were such wonderful children! Hanh was a little shy, but I am sure, with your help, she is slowly opening up, and Linn....well, you know what a little firecracker she is! Always on the go! She makes my own kids look like they are in COMAS! LOL
Well, Phoebe, I thank you for writing! I will see you either tomorrow or Wednesday. Again, thank you for the prayers, and thank you for your friendship. I am indeed blessed in knowing you, and I am so happy that the girls have a loving family at last!
Until later, take care, and God bless you and your family! Give them all (((HUGS))) and (((XXXX))) from us when you get back to Texas, okay? Thanks!
Love you!
~As always, your Tennessee friend (who is now in Arkansas), Louisiana Mayrah. :)
Monday, the 13th of September, 2004, 10:21 A.M., C.S.T.~
