So, as you know Claire and I are in Florida for Claire’s national dance competition.  As you also know, we flew into Florida right as Tropical Storm Debby started rearing her ugly head.  But what some of you might not know is that the day after we got here Richmond, and our suburb, got hit by tornadic conditions (I just had to use the word tornadic ~ how many times do we ever get the opportunity to use that word??).

Unease. That seems to be the word of the week. Unease snuck up on me as we flew into Florida.  Everyone I’ve talked to here has said they feel off-kilter, not quite right or stressed.  So, I’ll use my literary license and put the word unease to how I think families are feeling here.

We flew, or drove, into a tropical storm and now all of us are dealing with the stress of thinking about our families and homes back in Virginia.  Stan called me right after the storm ripped through.  He told me we lost one of our maple trees in our front yard during the storm.  When we moved into our house six years ago the trees were tiny, little saplings.  They grew side by side, year after year becoming big, beautiful, full and majestic until the storm ripped one in half.
Two giant trees behind our house were toppled by the storm. Power was out for extended periods of time for most of us. Some of the dancers have their entire family here so there is no one at home to tell them if there is any storm damage. They just have to wait and see what the storm may have done to their homes. The storm in Virginia created another level of discomfort for us as we all realized there were the unknowns and loose ends at home. I think it’s safe to say all of us are more than ready to leave the crazy schedule of this dance competition behind, pack our bags, leave Florida (and the remnants of Tropical Storm Debby) behind and head home to see what kind of damage needs to be cleaned up from tornadic (I got to use tornadic again!) activity. The girls have had a good time, for the most part, done a fabulous job, without a doubt, but they are ready to get back to some normalcy as well. It’s time to put this adventure into the scrapbooks of our memories and go home. What a glorious word…home. I have goosebumps just thinking about getting back home ~ for the love of my children.