today I saw strength in a way that I never have experienced before. My 6 year old went to her back to school night and we went to meet her teacher. Her teacher was one of the women that taught at Plaza Towers Elementary school in Moore, OK on May 20, 2013. She was, at the time a totally normal functional woman that loved her students and stayed with them to protect them on that dreadful day. When we walked in the room we knew nothing more than that she was at our school and she would be my oldest childs new teacher. Upon arriving we saw her there in a wheel chair with multiple impairments but still going strong and said she had lots of helpers and didnt mention anything about where she was from. I looked over and saw her beautiful pictures of her wedding where she was standing on a beach and others of her with her pets and so on. Her husband was with her. One of the moms said that their student was a plaza towers student and that she wanted them to know because she had been in the school during the storm and was scared about the return of school. The teacher said she taught there too and that the storm is what paralyzed her from the waist down when a wall fell on her protecting her kids. All of them made it. This really struck me in a way I did not expect. I choked back tears because I had to take one more child to meet a teacher and I could not ruin my kids back to school night because I could not handle what I was experiencing. We finished up and left. I had alot of emotions. One was that it made it very real that my kids teachers last year could have been in the same boat.. It could have been our school. I did get my kids out of school less than 20 min. from the storm going through our area, but it was still to close for my comfort. I had no idea what was going on. I went immediately to my moms house to get mom and grandpa and back to my cellar. When it was over I took mom to see her house and it was damaged a great deal but only 3 houses from those that were flat. My best friends house was flat, it was horrific! I cannot imagine losing my ability to walk and still braving coming back to teach in a facility in the same town that i was in before, with some similar kids, and even more so all the memories we drive by daily just getting around our area. After all of my thoughts I realized that this woman might be stronger than I ever could imagine being. I like to think I am a very strong person. This woman is, by far, the image of strength! I am having many hard days handling everything that happened that day and it has caused me alot of hard days, I wont lie. I hold it together, but I went through the May 3, 1999 tornado too. It was about the same distance from the home I lived in then as this one was from the home I live in now. I stood outside as a kid and watched it pass by from 3/4 of a mile away while my mom yelled at me in a way I will never forget. I say all this to say that people are so much stronger than they think they are. If you ever doubt that you cant do something because of circumstances, think of my 1st graders teacher who went through a terrible experience and is back teaching again in the same city and she is going to make a Huge difference in these little peoples lives! The human will amazes me! =)
Posted on: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 04:58:25 +0000
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