Day 22: Moore, Oklahoma.
Her home was a beautifully welcoming place. She decorated it for every holiday, and her two spare bedrooms held all the things her grandsons and granddaughters needed so they wouldn’t have to pack a bag to visit her. The kitchen was filled with snacks, and her yard was blooming with flowers and spring green.
And in an instant, it was gone. On that fateful Sunday, beauty became slab and rubble. There was no time to escape, no place to hide. Her son, a police officer, found her and dug her out of the debris.
In an instant, it was gone. Home, car, belongings. All gone. But she wasn’t. And so she smiled. Her smile was medicine for all who were hurting as we donned masks and gloves and sifted through what remained.
She had only one wish. A plaque. A reminder of why she smiled.
And what remained made us smile too.
*****
Here’s the full story about what we found when we dug through the rubble. Every time I start to think sweet miracles are a thing of the past, I come back to this.