Remembering

Do you Remember, do you remember
All of the times we had
Do you remember?

I love that song....

Yesterday was a day for remembering.  It was also a day for moving forward.

A friend and I walked in the Unity Walk in Joplin.  Dee was such a super helper after the tornado to so many people.  She worked tirelessly and encouraged her kids to do the same, so I was honored to be able to walk with her!  So many people gave everything they had to help others.  I will never forget the Spirit of Joplin and the whole country.

It was HOT!  I am on limited calories.....  I downed a snack right before we started our walk.  I am so glad that I did.  I needed it to get through the walk.  I was AMAZED at all the people.  It was crazy.  I am hoping that I will see some overhead shots of everyone walking.  It was truly uplifting.  We had people cheering us on, handing us water and offering snacks.  Most were businesses, but some were just people that had been affected by the tornado and wanted to show their appreciation.  One family sat out by the road with a table full of homemade cookies ( I didn't eat any, but really loved the gesture).  We had cowbells rang when we went by, people saying thank you, it was overwhelming.

We were toward the front of the group

Loved seeing all the tributes along the way

We finished!  Standing next to the Memorial in Cunningham Park.

We ended up at Cunningham Park.  Denisa and I took a few minutes to look around, we met a woman that was from the St. Louis area, she was there by herself and told us how she came back many times with her church to volunteer.  She was in tears and just amazed at how much has been done since she was here last time.  She took the photo for us and we thanked her for helping our town.  I bought a couple of t-shirts and then Mendy picked us up and we headed off for the private memorial service for Will Norton.

We went to school with Tracey, Will's aunt.  If you don't know Will's story, check it out online.  I can promise you, you will not be the same person after you see it.  We are so fortunate that we are still close friends with many of our school classmates.  We lean on each other and it was evident last night.  When Tracey say us, she hugged us all and told us that she hadn't cried until she saw us.  The ceremony was beautiful and Tracey told us a story that literally took my breath away.  I won't share it here, but if you know Tracey ask her about it. Everyone lit a candle and we floated them in the pond where Will was found - many days after the tornado.  A couple of lanterns were lit and let go.  One of them went up a bit and then came back down in the pond.  I felt it was just Will letting everyone know that he is ok.

After the ceremony, the girls (minus Tracey and Mendy) went to dinner.  As you know, I'm doing the reset and following a pretty strict diet, so I just packed my food ( see Food Toting Mama) and ate my own at the restaurant.

I am so blessed to have these girls in my life.  You really don't know the half of it......

It was a good day and a good way to spend this day.

Ended the evening with Brian and just relaxing.

If you want to read my blog posts right after the tornado check these out:  not many words  and tornado damages.

My eats for the day:

Fruit plate - breakfast

beans and rice over salad with homemade dressing

my afternoon pick-me-up (alkanalize) 

Snack before walk was 1/2 scoop tropical shakeology in my shaker cup on the road!

I also had my pre-dinner supplements on the road out of the back of the jeep.  The girls think I'm a bit nuts, but that is ok, this just solidifies it!

The guy riding his bike as I am downing my detox drink may have different thoughts!

Dinner was sweet potato red pepper bisque. 

Dinner was hard, the girls all had chips and salsa, MY FAVES!  I didn't eat a one!  Stuck to the plan.

GO ME!!!!

My favorite helper!

Wow! What a couple of days!  We have been meeting ourselves coming and going! 

Wednesday, we had Miss Madelyn and it was good to be in a somewhat normal routine.  She tagged along as we made a few food deliveries and kept us in laughs.  Not only is she bossy, but she is funny!!  She's my favorite helper!

She thought it was really funny that she could put her feet on the back of our seats.  She was pretty proud of herself!!

We have met with our insurance company on the rental properties.  All I can say is that if you are thinking of changing to a new insurance company - Columbia is THE one to go with!  They have treated us with the most respect and understanding and very promptly.  I have heard so many horror stories already and I'm sure there will be more to come.  We have been paid in full for the 3 total losses and the 1 house that is being repaired.  All within 1 week.  Can you ask for anything more?  I think not!

I've been posting interesting photos on my Feeling Fit with Dana facebook page.  I am not going to post any more photos of the damage and sadness, I'm just posting things I find interesting.  Today's photo is Spiderman in the tree with the flags flying!  LOVE it!

And if you didn't know, President Obama came to town.  We made the mistake of getting out in town and got stuck, could not get home because the motorcade was coming through.  So, we made the best of it:

Forgive the no makeup and bags under the eyes, we are worn slick!

 The beginning of the motorcade, I couldn't even begin to count how many motorcycle cops went by.

 The President is in there somewhere......

Traffic backed up FOREVER!

We finally made it home, we've been working like crazy, helping out as much as we can and just trying to recover!

not many words

This has just been a week.  There is so much to tell, yet I have no words.  I'll try.

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!

tornado damages

After my last post about the path to happiness, it has been hard to find the happiness in our area.  We were hit with an E F-5 tornado in our town. 

We are fine, our house is fine.

So many people have been lost, so many properties have been destroyed (about 1/3 of our town is gone). 

We own rental property in the disaster area, 3 houses are completely gone, 2 more have damage.  The happiness in this instance is that all the tenants are ok.  When you see what is left of some of these houses, you know that it was a miracle.

I took these first 2 photos of our rental properties the day after the tornado, it was storming yet again, so I apologize for the quality of them.  I am hoping to get by these properties today and get more photos and see what can be done there.

Jake's girlfriend, Morgan lost her aparment and most of her belongings.  We were able to recover some of her clothes, her hope chest and some memorablia. 

My niece, Stephanie lost her house as well.

It is sad, there are not a lot of smiles, but we are coping and trying to deal with it all.

We have been cleaning and searching for beloved items and have found many of them!  Our friend Judy's grandmother's ring, our friend Don's dad's ashes, things that are so special and basically can't be replaced.

That is what I am choosing to focus on - the good things that are happening - a baby found alive yesterday in a car on Main St.  Finding my friend that was missing.  Houses and things can be replaced, but people can't.

I'm sure you've seen the coverage on TV, so I won't go into all the details, but it is just so hard to describe, when we are driving around, it's hard to figure out where you are. The landmarks are gone, there are no street signs.  People are wandering around and it is absolutely crazy.  The photos just do not do it justice.

We are still missing some friends, so please keep our area in your prayers.