Auntie Em!! Auntie Em!!

This year has been devastating when it comes to tornadoes. I pray for everyone who's been affected, or knows someone affected by these storms. Tornadoes are the main reason I'm not a summer person. My  stress levels are too high to even truly enjoy all that summer has to offer. All it takes is for that warning or watch to pop up at the bottom of the TV screen, and my evening is ruined. I've said it once, and I'll say it again. It can snow all it wants, and I'll still feel safe in my own home!

The only person who has ever made me feel safe during a storm, was my Grandpa. Grandpa was a strong, hard working carpenter, who I believed wasn't afraid of anything. I'm sure that's not truly the case, but that's how he appeared to me as a small child. We lived down the road from my grandparent's, so when there was a storm, we would go down to their house.

Most storms were spent sitting on the front porch, waiting for it to pass. I remember crying a lot of the times, always in fear of dying in a tornado. I blame The Wizard of Oz. ( You know, it wasn't so much the house being picked up and spun around that scared me the most, as it was Miss Gulch turning into the Wicked Witch outside the window.)



(It still kind of freaks me out.)

But, Grandpa had a way of making me feel calm, even in the worst weather. If he saw that the thunder was bothering me, he would tell me they were just rolling potatoes in heaven. I know a lot of people grew up saying they were bowling in heaven, but it was always potatoes for this gal. That's probably why I grew up not minding the thunder so much. The sound is really quite soothing, when I think about it. That is, as long as it's just the rumbly kind. I'm still not crazy about the loud, crazy booms.lol

My grandpa died in 1992, when I was an 8th grader. I'm 33 now, and I still wish he was around to comfort me when it storms. I don't think I've felt completely safe during a storm since.



(Just so you know, this part freaks me out more than the other.)