It was almost time for the kids to come home from school, and watching the ferocity of the storm approach, I decided to drive to get the kids. I ran inside, and into the basement with Cora (Terrified of thunder storms) and Chipper (Terrified as well) under each arm. I deposited them with Jeremy. He was about to shut down the computers when a booming clap of thunder shook the house and sent Cora & Chipper scurrying under the blanket and cut the power. I told Jeremy what I was doing, grabbed the keys, and ran out to the van.
By the time I got the van door closed, the wind was shaking the van, the thunder was booming non stop, and lightning was striking constantly. It became so dark that it appeared more like 9:00 at night rather than 2:45 in the afternoon. The rain began to come down with a fury that made my windshield wipers useless.
I arrived at the corner to pick up the kids, parked my car, and prayed that they would hurry up and come out before the storm got really bad. I watched the kids come out of the school in lines to board the busses. I was starting to really worry about the kids even crossing the road to get to the van. Debris was now blowing past, and the van was really getting lashed with wind & rain.
The next thing I knew, the kids that had boarded the busses, were running full speed back to the school. I knew that something really terrible was happening. Your not allowed to run on school sidewalks for any reason, right?
My neighbor started running down the line of waiting parents, shouting into each car window. She was completely drenched by the time she reached me. I rolled down my window to tell her that she needed to get in my van, and she yelled that the school had the kids on lockdown, that there was a tornado, and that we all needed to get home and into our basements.
I had a couple of moments of irrational panic, before I was able to move the van and head for home. I had to stop myself from getting out of the van and running over to the school to get my kids. Is that crazy? FOUR of my children were in that school, without power, listening to this terrible storm with out their mom.
When I got back home, I could not decide what to do first. The power and phone were both out, so we were without news or communication. I kept thinking, 'How will I know when to get the kids, without a phone?'. I picked up my cel phone and began calling any local number that I had programmed into it. I even tried calling a number of a mom that I hadn't talked to in months. I couldn't get through to anyone. By this time I was just about beside myself. This was my first real life tornado drill after all.
I was just about to completely lose it, when my friend Terri called me from upstairs. She had just picked her daughter up from school, and knew that I would be frantic, not knowing if my kids were safe or not. I thanked her profusely, and just to show how grateful I was, I handed her my bowl of strawberries.
The storm was still very much in progress by the time I reached the school. It had died down quite a bit, though.
I watched a mother come out of the school with her arm around a sobbing little girl, and quickened my pace.
I found the familiar face of the music teacher upon entering the school. I told him that I needed to find my four children. He said that he would help me. He took me into the inner hallway where all of the kids were crouched in the dark in duck and cover mode.
The music teacher found the kids before I did. Trenton was crying, Layton's eyes were red rimmed, and his face pale, and the girls looked pretty shaken up. I can't say how relieved I was to get them all in my arms. The poor little things were scared to death, but safe.
