update and a video

I called my mom after I wrote that post, and she apologized for not calling. I could tell when I confronted her about it, she was all, "Oh crap, why didn't I call her??"

Except my mother would never say "crap".

After I went to bed last night, I was thinking back a little at past major storms. My family has never been the kind to panic or worry that we'll be harmed. I've never been afraid of storms, other than tornados (and that was my granddad's fault, that's a whole other story for later). When we went through Hurricane Hugo, I was up hanging out with my mom. I'll never forget the image of debris flying, rain moving so fast it was white outside, and everything flooding. My mom thought it'd be fun to stand out in it, so she went out on our front porch to get a better look. Not one brick or tree or anything was disturbed at my house. Even our outdoor cats were fine (although they looked like they'd just gotten in from a rough night of partying the night before).
Contrast this to my husband's family (and maybe everyone else's?). As soon as his dad saw the tornado warning, he called us up, told us to get somewhere safe, and don't move until he called to tell us it was over. A good friend called me also to let me know (I love good friends). So while my mom would've been all "Hailey, look at this! It's crazy out there!"; Brad's family would've been hiding under the house all safe and stuff.
Which leads us to why my mom probably didn't think it was neccesary to call. There wasn't an actual tornado sighting. It was just strong winds and circulation. The news down here likes to overdramatize things (especially with snow and ice), but storms, I don't take lightly. To her, it wasn't a big deal.

The devastation caused by tornados this year is mind boggling. I don't even know what to say about it, other than our next fundraiser is probably going to be going towards helping these people. If you're able, please consider donating to organizations who are out delivering aid as we speak.

On a completely unrelated note, a family that I grew up with unexpectedly lost a husband/father a couple of weeks ago. It really was heartbreaking. He was such a sweet man. He was healthy and active, then suddenly had a heart attack.
His daughter is an amazingly talented girl. She wrote this song shortly after he died, and I had to share. It's absolutely beautiful. Think a Christian Colbie Caillet (I don't know Ms Caillet's personal religious convictions; I just mean the song is Christian).

Enjoy. And have some tissues handy.
I'll be back later (hopefully) for a happier post.