National Weather Service/Dave Eichorn

I woke up this morning and I couldn’t believe what I saw in the media. Moore, Oklahoma had once again been struck by a horrific force of nature. I remember the 1999 tornado in Moore. I missed a major impact point by about 15 minutes. I left a client’s location about 25 minutes before it came within a half-mile of his property. I drove through Moore 15 minutes before it tore a path of destruction across Interstate 35. But that tornado didn’t leave the death toll that yesterday’s tornado left. You can rebuild a home. It takes time and perseverance. You can recover from financial disaster. You can rebuild a school and a hospital. But, people tell me that you never recover from loosing a child. That pain never goes away. It’s a sad day for Oklahoma. It’s a sad day for Moore, Oklahoma and the sadness will continue for days and days and days as people start to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. But for some people the recovery will never be complete. They may smile again some day, but the pain will always be there.

I know what it’s like to loose a loved one. I’ve lost a few. I’m able to remember them and feel like it was time for them to leave this earth. I’m still sad, but I’m at peace with what happened. But for the many, many people across Oklahoma, and the rest of the world for that matter, who were affected by tragic events of yesterday, and any other day for that matter, my heart goes out to you. We’ve all shared your pain. We’ve all had our world crash down on us at one time or another. Your only consolation is that others will help you to start to pick up the pieces and our common tragedies will serve to make us all stronger as a family, a community, a city, a nation, and a world. For those people that lost a child, all I can say is that I hope God helps you to deals with the ultimate tragedy that can be experienced as a human being.