Photo by Julia Buchholz 
I found out yesterday that a friend died at the Home Depot. I am so saddened and pray for his family. RIP Sam.
They still haven't found Will Norton. Please keep praying for him and the family. I went to school with Tracey, Will's aunt. Tracey is doing an amazing job and is the strongest person I know. For those of you that are not familiar with his story, Will is an 18 year old that had just graduated from high school. He and his dad, Mark were on their way home when the tornado struck. The car flipped several times and Will was sucked out of the sunroof and hasn't been found. Mark has injuries and is in the hospital, but will be ok. Tracey has been spreading the word and the photo of Will so that possibly someone will recogonize him and he can be found.
The insurance adjustor met with Brian yesterday and as we suspected, we had 3 total losses and 1 house that will be able to be repaired. I have to say that Columbia Insurance has stepped up to the plate and taken VERY good care of us - AGAIN! (The tornado that struck Carl Junction in 2003 caused a lot of damage to our rental properties as well)
Several of my friends that have lost their homes or have damaged homes are now having to deal with looters. Nothing like kicking a person when they are down. I heard one story of a family being held at gunpoint while the looters took their things.
Evidently, Obama is coming to town on Sunday. This is going to be a mess. I understand the need for him to come here, but talk about a nightmare in shutting things down. We just need to find our people and clean up. Sorry, just my opinion, it will be a 3 ring circus here on Sunday, we don't need that!
Joplin (and the surrounding communities) are STRONG, the people are wonderful, there is so much compassion and help and just lvoe. There isn't one person that hasn't been affected by this in some way.
I'll try to find good stories to tell tomorrow, Lord only knows that we need some!
