Today is the last day of my weekend, and we are finally home from Joplin. I am still so deeply troubled by what I saw there. I took a fully charged camera with me, but I didn't snap a single picture. I had intended on taking pictures and sharing what I saw with friends and family. However, once we got there, it was a whole different feeling. I felt like a voyeur as we drove past families in their yards, amid rubble and memories of their whole lives. I instantly felt that taking pictures of people's devastation and pain was disrespectful of the dead and the living.
The first day that we were in Joplin, we drove down Rangeline Rd. I thought what I saw there was the extent of the damage, but I was so very wrong. On Rangeline, part of the business district, tops of buildings were caved in, a chinese restaurants 20 ft tall metal sign was twisted and bent, lying parallel to the ground.
As we turned onto 20th St to drive to dinner, I soon realized that Rangeline was lucky. 20th St had more damage that anything I had seen so far. Houses were flattened; naked tree branches jutted into the blue sky, with blunt edges, severed with chainsaws. Eerie sights were abound- free standing refrigerators, bricks in toppled messes, branches... street signs were gone, and the street names were spray painted onto the asphalt, giving direction to travelers who couldn't find their way... even Joplin residents who had grown up on the streets were lost on the wrecked streets.
At night we pulled into our hotel parking lot, next to a van with all of its windows blown out. They were covered with plastic bags, and the inside was filled to the brim with all of the remnants of their lives. Clothes, dishes, anything that could be salvaged from their home, was now in their van. In front of the room was the family, a man in a wheelchair with a broken leg. I gave him a sympathetic smile and he returned it. My heart ached for him.
We take our lives for granted sometimes, and my experience in Joplin has made me hold Adam a little closer, spend a little more time with my family and be grateful, and so thankful for my home, job, car, belongings. Knowing that it could be wiped away in one powerful storm is the most humbling experience of all.
I'll end on a happy note: Joplin is struggling, but they have resolve. They are a city of great courage and I admire them. God loves Joplin- people from all over have rallied together to help this city pick up the pieces. Free food was given out on every street corner- churches, civic organizations, kids, senior citizens- they gave what they could. They gave their time, energy, money, donations- as if to say, "You're not alone in this, Joplin. We love you."
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