Back on the weekend of June 12 & 13th, there was a tournament in Chelsea. We had not had any rain that week and sure enough, come Friday night as we arrived at the ball park and had been there a few minutes, a monsoon came complete with thunder and lightening. The only place for us to take cover was under a big pavilion they had at the ballpark and the silly thing is, we were all crammed under that thing and it had a metal roof...smart huh? The storm blew over and the game started about an hour later. David was down by the dugout and I was sitting with little man in a chair next to some friends we have made through their little boy being on the same teams as Bud, and Mimi and Boogs were playing between David and me.
It was dark at that point and we were all enjoying the game when all of a sudden I felt a little rain drop. I was looking up at the sky and joking with my friend about it raining again when all of a sudden I heard this weird rustle in the tree tops. I started watching the trees and the rustling just got louder and louder and the wind really started to pick up. I mean, all of this happened within a two to three minute time frame when all of a sudden the wind started to blow so hard and I saw things flying around and people started running and screaming. When I say it was blowing hard , I mean it was tornado force winds (or so it felt like). I stood up and was clutching little man so close to my body all the while my eyes were frantically searching for Mimi and Boogs. For some reason Bud never crossed my mind (I'm a terrible mom, I know) and looking back I think that I didn't even think about him because he was with his team mates and coaches and my mind just assumed that they were all ok and would be taken care of even though they were on the field.
Anyway, when I stood up I felt like I was in a scene from the movie "Twister" where all the people were at the drive-in when that huge tornado came roaring in and people were running and screaming. I'm not kidding, that's how everyone looked. Then the power went out so we all were looking for our family members in the dark. I saw David who was looking for Boogs and I started screaming "David, get the kids, get the kids!". He looked like a chicken with his head cut off because he was running around in circles. LOL!! I saw Mimi and we headed towards some shelter, but something was dragging behind me. I felt like I was in slow motion. I realized that I was trying to drag the stroller and it had tipped over and of course it wasn't moving the way I wanted it to because I had locked the wheels to keep the kids from rolling it off somewhere. It was like my hand was glued to the handlebar. Mimi, Boogs and I (with little man in my arms) ran into this storage area with about 80 other moms and kids. Some little kid was in there screaming "tornado, tornado!". It was complete pandemonium!!
I even got choked up myself because all I could think about was that movie scene and the fact that David and Bud were no where to be found. I didn't know if they were ok or not. My adrenaline was pumping so fast.
David finally stuck his head in the storage area we were in and brought Bud to be in there with me. I was so glad to see them! After a few minutes, things finally settled down enough for us to leave. Everybody was trying to find their chairs and umbrellas and anything else they had that had gotten blown away.
Obviously the game was done for the night. On the way home, David and I were talking about what happened. We came across several downed trees in the road and there was debris everywhere. We wondered if there really had been a small tornado near by. We got home and watched our local weather man who said that it was not a tornado but 80 mph winds and something called a duratio (or something like that).
I don't care what it was called, it was scary and I have never been so terrified in my life! Looking back David and I laugh because he was running around like a headless chicken in circles and he tells me that out of all those people out there screaming and hollering, he could hear my screaming voice above everybody else, "get the kids, get the kids!". I'm laughing now as I type this. =)
Lessons learned (and in no specific order):
1. Only grab the kids....leave any and all other belongings where they may be.
2. When you hear the faintest little rustle in the tree tops....run for your life.
3. Make sure you think about ALL of your kids.
4. Scream like a banshee if it gets the job done.
5. Don't assume the wheels will go with you when you go....of course, revert back to #1.
6. Forget all weather related movies you have previously watched.
7. It's ok to be married to headless poultry....you love them anyway!
8. Look back a few weeks later and laugh. =)
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