Killer Tornado and Hugs

Usually news reports of a tornado don't garner much interest from me, but the one yesterday in Joplin, Missouri certainly did because both sides of my family came from there, and indeed, there are still numerous cousins still there. I was born in Idaho, but my parents were born, raised, and are now buried in a cemetery there only a few blocks from where the center of the tornado hit.

I have not been back there since 1973, but as a child, I was there quite a few times on vacations. My
uncle had two large farms there, and it was great fun for a city boy from Wallace to visit the country so see how those folks lived.Of course, I was so much more worldly wise, being from Wallace and all, than my cousins were.

Seriously, thought, the devastation there yesterday is unbelievable. From what i can find out, all of my cousins are all right, although a distant relative did lose everything.

I guess that the theme of writing today was the thought of how quickly life can end. They are now reporting 89 dead in Joplin that they know of.. Do you suppose that any of those 89 woke up Sunday morning and knew that this was their last day on earth? Probably not. Life is short, and fragile. Live for today. Tell someone that you love them. One never knows when their time or a loved one's time is up.