Growing up in Alabama, the line was clear: Auburn or Alabama?
I was an Auburn girl, stepping foot on Alabama’s campus a whopping one time for a Foreign Language Convention when I was in junior high. I didn’t pay attention to where I was going on campus, just excited that this kid was strolling around on enemy territory and that the Dark Side had cute college boys.
So I don’t know if the few places I once trod upon have been reduced to rubble.
Image from KXAN.com
But many, many of my friends spent years attending school there, a few are still in the area, and I can only imagine what it would be like to see the home of your alma mater flattened by an titan of a storm.
Image from srh.noaa.gov
Please, if you have a minute, send up a prayer for the tens of thousands of people affected by the destruction, and for the many more whose hearts are hurting for one of the cities that is the pulse of my home state.
If you want to do more, you can text REDCROSS to 90999 to automatically donate $10 to Disaster Relief, or you can call 1-800-RED-CROSS, or visit their website: www.redcross.org.
It ain’t as pretty as Kate in a white dress, but it’s still happening, even though the Royal Couple has already said, “I Do.”
People are suffering all around the world, but this time it hits close to home. Literally, and figuratively.
Alabama Friends : Please post any comments/thoughts about Tuscaloosa and the University of Alabama below, since I don’t have any of my own.
Meet the Buttrams 
One of my blogging buddies living in the area wrote about her experience with the tornado: http://livinglifeofryan.blogspot.com/2011/04/husband-said-it-best-today.html
Each time one of these tragedies strikes, I get completely sucked into the coverage. I can’t even imagine what the victims must be dealing with – either the material aspects of their lives being blown away, or the loss of loved ones. Tornados must be particularly difficult to deal with because the devastation wrought seems so capricious.
Thanks for sharing the link to the Hillary’s blog.
I just saw this comment hidden away.
A lot of my friends in the area who blog have been talking about it on their spaces. Here’s another one: http://lifeasbethanyknowsit.wordpress.com/2011/04/29/pleadings-from-a-tornado-survivor/
The tornado that ripped through Tuscaloosa was just a monster. And you’re right – there’s no way to tell what it’s going to do. In the aftermath, you’re either spared, or you’re not.
My family is from the west, but my brother played baseball at Alabama. I had no idea people took the Auburn-Alabama rivalry so seriously until I wore an Alabama hat he gave me and was constantly stopped by fans of both teams.
It’s kind of an illness for some, actually. I’m sure you’ve heard of the misguided Alabama fan (who lived outside of Auburn, had never attended UA, or even a Tide football game) who poisoned the 300+ year-old trees on Auburn’s campus with a hearty “Roll Tide!”
JButt:
This is how I felt about Katrina. All my years in N’awlins. ALl the joking about how we were below sea level. All of us knew that “that big storm could come any day,” and still I wasn’t ready.
I still haven’t been back.
It is my understanding the place I lived is gone.
I am grateful for Facebook as I was able to find a lot of people who were displaced and scattered about. Thinking of you. And your friends.
Thanks, Renée. I agree with the point about Facebook. I also have been able to keep up with my friends who are closer to the area and what they’re doing to help those living in Tuscaloosa.