Ephemeral

Ephemeral~~lasting a very short time; short-lived

If one enduring observation can be made in the aftermath of the tornadoes and floods, it's this--in the best of circumstances possessions are ephemeral. Survival is what counts.

I know some would ask what right I have to say that when I'm sitting here comfortable in my home. But I've been there. I pretty much lost everything I owned and my mother. If I had the power to change things, I would have gladly given it all up to have my mother back.

That's not the way things work. We don't get choices like that in life. Instead, we face an insurmountable task urged on only because of those around us who did survive the disaster. They're the ones who keep us going.

As I watched the videos from the Oklahoma tornadoes, one elderly woman looked around at the devastation and smiled. Then she said, "We survived. Somehow we survived."

In my lifetime I have faced certain death--and survived. The shock and surprise are so overwhelming you just don't know how to deal with it. In that crystalline instant when you realize you did not die, your life changes forever. You are never the same. In that split second you know deep inside what really matters is life.

My heart goes out to the survivors in these disasters. There is grief and loss and heartache there. But the human spirit just won't give up. Somehow we demonstrate the very best of who we are in the midst of chaos and loss.

anny