Oklahoma Strong

Living in the Midwest, tornados are a way of life.  Every child knows about getting to the basement and covering the back of their head and face with their hands.  Like baseball, it happens every spring.

Californian acquaintances marvel at our ability to live with the specter of tornados the same way they live with earthquakes.  I tell them we get some warning.  In their case, the earth just starts shaking and they cover up the same way we do.   About the only difference is the proximity of a beach.

However, I live east of Tornado Alley.  The swath of the Midwest carrying that title covers Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and Northern Texas.  The natives are hearty people, strong in belief and roots.  You have to be to live off the land like farmers, which are in the family backgrounds of many people that live in Oklahoma.  They have built, failed, rebuilt, failed, and built again.  They have to do it again.

They will come back.  They have faith, they have desire, and they have each other.  We need to support them any way we can.  Prayer, if nothing else, works for everyone.