A week ago today, the nation's deadliest tornadoes in history swept through Alabama. As of Sunday evening, 250 have been found dead, 2,219 are either hospitalized or injured, and hundreds are still missing.
1. I am so blessed that all of my family and friends are alive and left unharmed. I had loved ones in all of the affected areas, and for not a single person to be injured is truly a blessing.
2. I am blessed to be apart of school with a true servant heart. Immediately after the devastation, the student body received countless emails from administration of how to help out. They even had shirts printed up last Friday night for hundreds of us to wear and go out and volunteer Saturday. We are still receiving extensive emails with all the places to volunteer and donate. It is very apparent that our leaders are really putting a lot of effort into gathering and sending out information. Everyone is so eager to help. I'm surrounded by servants. What a blessing.
3. I'm also blessed that SU was left untouched. For us to be surrounded by damage and power outages and to only have a couple of fallen trees is amazing. I've found bits insulation lying all over campus and even outside of my dorm. It literally flew right over us. A lot of our faculty and students were not so fortunate at home, but I am glad to know the school is providing for them. This past week has really reinforced my love and appreciation for this place.
4. I am blessed that I was able to serve as a photographer for the Christian Service Mission Saturday. Seeing all the devastation in Birmingham and back home really put things in perspective. Seeing it all on TV is one thing, but seeing it for yourself, in person, in your own community is life-changing. I saw families' entire lives piled up, broken, ruined, and pushed over to the side of road for them to pick up what remained. I'll let some of the pictures do the talking.
5. I am blessed to have experienced a sense of patriotism like never before. Over the past week, I've gotten to witness our entire state come together and unite. With all the constant battles over football and politics, it was so nice to see us all working together and sacrificing our time and possessions for our neighbors. This week was a perfect depiction of "Sweet Home Alabama." But not only did our state unite, but the country as well. People from all over the country are doing what they can to help out. I came across power trucks from North Carolina, Texas, Michigan, and Illinois while taking pictures this weekend. It is such a warm feeling to see the good that comes from such devastation.
But just when we thought we had enough news for one week, Osama bin Laden was killed. After 10 long years, our brave and self-sacrificing service men and women found him and brought justice to our country. I was at Worklplay watching Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors peform. Right in the middle of the performance, it was announced that Laden was killed. An overwhelming feeling of patriotism swept through the venue. Immediately afterwards, the sound guy turned Obama's press conference on for all to hear. We all ran to the sound booth and crowded around the small television screen. Even the band rushed over, and I got chills as I witnessed a group of Americans crowding around a 12-inch TV screen watching the biggest news in ten years. It was definitely an unforgettable moment. Just like September 11th, 2011 in Mrs. Eggers' 5th grade classroom, I will always remember this moment.
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| Drew Holcomb is sitting in the lower right corner. |
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