Monday, May 23, 2011

How to feel grateful: Think about Joplin

I live in Missouri, the heart of the Midwest. It seems to me that every other minute a rash of severe thunderstorms hits this state, spawns tornadoes, drops golf-ball-size hail, and just generally wreaks destruction. I spend a lot of time watching local news to keep track of the weather. On more than one occasion, I have hightailed it for the bathroom with a flashlight, transistor radio, and book and sat on the floor for a long time.

I watch the news in horror, feeling that at any moment I could turn into Dorothy and be whisked away to some place I don't want to go. Yet, scary as it is, it all seemed a little surreal ... until last night.

According to the National Weather Service, the tornado that killed 116 people in Joplin, Missouri, was the single deadliest twister in this country since 1953, with winds estimated at 198 miles per hour. Joplin is 247 miles from St. Louis. That really isn't very far. These people are fellow Missourians, neighbors, potential friends.

A town leveled and 116 people killed. What more could it possibly take to feel grateful every single day?

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