Life before and after...

We had the opportunity to go back home for Memorial Day. It was my first time back since the tornado destroyed G's family home. I've been sitting on these pictures for a while now, contemplating how to possibly give proper tribute to something so significant. I was blind-sighted by the uncontrollable emotions I felt, seeing what used to be my husband's childhood home. The home my mother and father-in-law thought would be their last.

It's been over a year now, and people have rebuilt. G's parents have a gorgeous new home, in a new location, but there are just some things that are irreplaceable. Childhood memories, and memorabilia:

Here's a flashback to pictures of the family, gathering in the farmhouse.

Before, in the garden:
This is all that's left now:

Before:

The girls doing art with Grandma in the kitchen of the farmhouse. That's one of the things that rips my heart out. G's mom is a very talented artist, and I get sick to think of all of her artwork, from over the decades, being gone.

This was the first thing I saw when we got there. It broke my heart. The slab that used to be the front porch still remains. Here you see, Mom and Dad's prints on top followed by 4 little hand prints underneath . G's is the smallest on the lower right.

G, comparing his son's hand to his print from 32 years ago.

Shattered glass, but thankfully not shattered lives. G's parents weren't home at the time the tornado struck, and for that we thank God. Even though I know that this doesn't minimize their pain and feelings of loss, I'll take shattered glass any day. Had they been home at the time the tornado struck, all of our lives would have been shattered.
In the end, it's all material. I try to remember, in my own life (though not always easy), that materials can be replaced. People can not.

~mj~