posted on May 21, 2013 by Jaycie Cash

No Laughing Matter

prayforokI usually try to give my blog readers a reason to smile. I’m afraid I can’t do that today.

As I write this, one of my dearest friends is wondering where her 10-year-old nephew is… or if he still is.

You see, he and his family live—make that lived—in Moore, OK where today (I’m writing this Monday) a tornado demolished over 30 square miles of homes and businesses; entire neighborhoods, really, including the elementary school that my friend’s nephew attended.

I say his family “lived” in Moore because their home no longer exists. It was flattened. Right now, they have no home.

As I write this, it’s known that at least 51 people were killed in this storm. I understand more than half of them were children. The number of dead is expected to climb. No telling what it will have reached by morning.

Sometimes I think I’m crazy to live in Oklahoma.

Then I take a breath and remember that bad things happen everywhere. My fellow Oklahomans and I have no more reason to feel victimized than the survivors of Super Storm Sandy, Hurricane Katrina or any number of storms, tragedies and natural disasters.

In fact, I personally have no reason whatsoever to feel like a victim. My home and life remain intact. My heart, however, is something altogether different. It breaks every time I turn on the TV or check out MSNBC.

So I’m going to spend the rest of the evening alternating between counting my extraordinary number of blessings and praying for those who’ve lost so much . . . including folks, like my friend, who are waiting to learn just how much light that ugly, deadly funnel extinguished from their lives.

HAVE YOU PERSONALLY FACED A NATURAL DISASTER OR TRAGEDY AT SOME TIME IN YOUR LIFE? IF SO, PLEASE TELL US ABOUT IT. A FREE COPY OF MY DEBUT NOVEL, MRS. GOODFELLER, WILL BE RANDOMLY AWARDED TO ONE PERSON WHO LEAVES A COMMENT BELOW BEFORE THE NEXT WRITERSPACE BLOG IS POSTED.

Jaycie Cash blogs on a regular basis for Writerspace.com Her debut novel, Mrs. Goodfeller, is available through most major e-Book outlets, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble. She’d love for you to like her Facebook Author page.

2 thoughts on “No Laughing Matter”

  1. My older son and I were talking about the devastation that has occured in Moore, Oklahoma. We were remembering the hard times we’ve had over the years. I was a single mom with 2 young children. We never went hungry … our house was never destroyed… I never lost a child, a parent or a friend to an angry Mother Nature. I feel very blessed with the life I’ve had. My heart just aches for all those people in Oklahoma. I can’t even begin to imagine the heartbreak of losing literally everything. I also pray for all the fur-babies that they are reunited with their humans. It is really sad to think it takes a monumental experience for people to pull together .. but we do it every single time and we will continue to do so.

  2. Cissy says:

    Jaycie, my heart goes out to your friend and every other Oklahoman who is waiting to learn if they have lost a loved one. I can’t imagine what they must be going through. I’m praying for all of them, and for those faced with rebuilding their lives.

    I’m sure everyone has the numbers already, but you can donate to the Red Cross by texting REDCROSS to 90999 ($10 is donated with each text). There’s a list of other donation sites here: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/20/18381508-how-to-help-oklahoma-tornado-victims?lite

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