I have experienced my first earthquake. I think it was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me. I am almost ashamed to share with you how I behaved during the earth shaking event, but I suppose I will. . . .
We were at a friends house having dinner. There were about 14 of us there. After dinner, we were all sitting around talking and laughing. I was sitting on the floor with Sarah when all of a sudden I saw the floor move right in front of my eyes. I looked up and calmly said, 'Ya'll, it's an earthquake.' Then I stood up with my baby and walked out the door into the front yard. It sounds pretty good, right. I mean, I followed standard earthquake protocol. But let me remind you there were THIRTEEN other people in that house including MY HUSBAND AND MY TWO SONS! Did I stop and say, 'Everyone, get outside quickly!' or 'Get outside.'? Nope, I walked myself outside and didn't really even realize other people were behind me until I heard Jonathan yell, 'Jon Thomas, COME ON!'.
It all seems very surreal when I review the events in my mind. I didn't even freak out or anything (until later) and I only remember saying, 'it's an earthquake' in this oddly calm voice like the same way I would say, 'spaghetti is for dinner.' It wasn't until after it was over and we were standing outside in the rain that I realized that I had 1) left my entire family inside to perish in the earthquake and 2) fallen down and skinned my knee while holding my baby scrambling to get outside.
When we got home, we found our 'quake damage'. All of our kitchen cabinet doors were open as well as the closet doors upstairs, and a few light objects (alarm clocks, etc.) fell onto the floor.
Afterwards, the boys were both really scared, so we all spent the night together in our bedroom. Jon Thomas said, 'Dad, I want us all to sleep together tonight, because if we are gonna die, we should all die together.' On one hand, that's a pretty nice sentiment from an 8 year old, but on the other, it's a bit morbid and scary!
The next day, everything was pretty much back to normal, except that neither JT nor Charlie would go upstairs by themselves, and I put Sarah down for her naps downstairs where we were homeschooling. Since then, we are pretty much back to our regular selves - maybe. I still think I feel the house shaking sometimes, and I almost flipped out last night when it thundered. Other than that, we are okay.
There are so many others who aren't okay, and I would be remiss if I didn't ask you to remember those who lost loved ones and property. We understand from news reports that many people have been killed from mudslides resulting from the quake and the mudslides are also making it difficult to reach the remote hill areas where help is needed.
We were at a friends house having dinner. There were about 14 of us there. After dinner, we were all sitting around talking and laughing. I was sitting on the floor with Sarah when all of a sudden I saw the floor move right in front of my eyes. I looked up and calmly said, 'Ya'll, it's an earthquake.' Then I stood up with my baby and walked out the door into the front yard. It sounds pretty good, right. I mean, I followed standard earthquake protocol. But let me remind you there were THIRTEEN other people in that house including MY HUSBAND AND MY TWO SONS! Did I stop and say, 'Everyone, get outside quickly!' or 'Get outside.'? Nope, I walked myself outside and didn't really even realize other people were behind me until I heard Jonathan yell, 'Jon Thomas, COME ON!'.
It all seems very surreal when I review the events in my mind. I didn't even freak out or anything (until later) and I only remember saying, 'it's an earthquake' in this oddly calm voice like the same way I would say, 'spaghetti is for dinner.' It wasn't until after it was over and we were standing outside in the rain that I realized that I had 1) left my entire family inside to perish in the earthquake and 2) fallen down and skinned my knee while holding my baby scrambling to get outside.
When we got home, we found our 'quake damage'. All of our kitchen cabinet doors were open as well as the closet doors upstairs, and a few light objects (alarm clocks, etc.) fell onto the floor.
Afterwards, the boys were both really scared, so we all spent the night together in our bedroom. Jon Thomas said, 'Dad, I want us all to sleep together tonight, because if we are gonna die, we should all die together.' On one hand, that's a pretty nice sentiment from an 8 year old, but on the other, it's a bit morbid and scary!
The next day, everything was pretty much back to normal, except that neither JT nor Charlie would go upstairs by themselves, and I put Sarah down for her naps downstairs where we were homeschooling. Since then, we are pretty much back to our regular selves - maybe. I still think I feel the house shaking sometimes, and I almost flipped out last night when it thundered. Other than that, we are okay.
There are so many others who aren't okay, and I would be remiss if I didn't ask you to remember those who lost loved ones and property. We understand from news reports that many people have been killed from mudslides resulting from the quake and the mudslides are also making it difficult to reach the remote hill areas where help is needed.
1 comment:
We were worried but glad to see all is ok. I am impressed you knew what to do in such a crisis time!
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