A bright Spot in a dark time.

I was reading my Mommy's blog today after she told she's "been on fire with blogging"  ( two whole posts this month!)  and then made herself the third person to remind me lately I haven't been blogging.  At first, there wasn't much to blog about.  It was cold, rainy, cold and much better to stay inside with coffee.  Then, things got pretty crazy.  We were preparing for Red's parents to head in from the states.  Visitor's passes, hotel accommodations on base, and trying to prepare an idea of what we could do to see the sights while they were visiting. Then, the day after Jim and Deb's arrival, all heck broke loose.  We were coming back from seeing the Kintai bridge and swans and the beginning of Cherry Blossoms.  I got a text from my brother " You get killed by an earthquake?"  Not knowing that anything was happening since we were gone all day and surrounded by people that don't speak the same language as me, I said " yup", thinking he was just being him.  We heard sirens.  We looked around, no one was panicking.  "Maybe that just means the park is closing?"  Then my darling brother says "So, you are ok?  Can you Skype?"  I realized that he was actually checking on me for some reason.  We turned on AFN, and were caught up on the situation.

" An 8.9 Magnitude Earthquake has struck Honshu, Japan.  The Iwakuni area is under a Tsunami Warning" 

It's really hard to explain the feelings I had at this point.  I remember looking out the car window, and the sun was shining as it had been all day.  The ground was still, buildings were where they should be, and the water was still.  It was hard to believe that such major destruction and devastation was occurring just a few hundred miles away.  ( 440 miles to be exact.  I am very thankful for google maps and iPhones)  When I checked on Facebook, I was starting to get the " Are y'all Ok" messages, and decided to put up that we were fine, but under a tsunami warning.  That was really all we knew at that point.

We got home and turned on the news, we heard more facts.  Got a little more worried.  Red and me went to the PX to look for something, and saw the news in Japanese and a Japanese man watching.  I asked him what they were saying.  He told me that if Iwakuni did get a tsunami, it would be very small, maybe half a meter.  Apparently, during this time, my mom was trying to call me.  A lot.  Since life was going on as normal here, I wasn't really feeling a sense of urgency or panic.  I had already updated my Face Book, which in my mind is the center for all communication and updates.  Pumpkin head hasn't moved away or been out of my sight during a natural disaster yet, so I can't imagine how worried my momma was.   We were able to skype later, which was nice for the both of us. 

Any way, like I was saying, I was reading my Momma's Blog earlier.  She was telling the story of her Grandparents, Roxie Mae and Elbert.  Roxie Mae died the day after my  mom was born, she had always thought that she was added stress around a sad time, but learned later that every one always thought she was such a bright spot in a dark time.  My mom is the youngest of five girls, can you imagine the squealing around a newborn baby sister?!   ** note to self, do not have all girls.  Covered squealing while committed to the High School dance team. ** 

I find it amazing how differently each person can percieve a situation.  To my mother, in 1965, she was added stress.  To her sisters and Mother, she was a happy, new baby girl to love on during a time of sadness.  To my mother in 2011, when the fifth largest earthquake in the world hit the country where her  baby was living, she was worried.  She was afraid.  All the while I was following to see what was happening up North of us.  I updated.  We were fine. We skyped, bright spot.  Pumpkin was smiling and dancing and blowing kisses.    No matter what, she is always a bright spot.  Even if the day isn't that dark.