I hate thunderstorms. I actually am very terrified of them. Each time I hear the roar of thunder I want to jump out of my skin. I’m so terrified of them that I don’t know how to explain how it makes me feel. On a really bad storm I can have such a panic attach that I swear my heart has stopped. I dread monsoon season every year because I never know when a thunderstorm is going to hit.
I don’t know how people that live in areas where weather is very unpredictable live. A few months ago we were at our daughter’s house in North Carolina. We were outside enjoying a nice evening when the clouds started rolling in. I kept saying that the clouds just didn’t look normal. There was something about them that seemed to have my hair standing up. I can’t explain it but I was slowing starting to get scared. I finally said that I had to go in because I couldn’t take it anymore.
So I go in the house with their dog, Jax. I open a bottle of wine hoping that having a drink will help calm my nerves. Next thing I know I hear the thunder and my heart stops. I start to panic, Jax starts to pace and my husband tries to calm me down.
Just as I was starting to calm down the weather radio went off. I thought that I was going to climb out of my skin. My daughter picks it up and says that there is nothing to worry about it was just announcing that there was a severe thunderstorm. I refilled my glass of wine and tried to relax. Then the radio went off again. This time the Jax is pacing even more which is really starting to freak me out. Once again my daughter says that it is just a severe thunderstorm and I refilled my glass of wine.
While trying to relax the radio went off for the third time. I really started to panic, Jax was pacing even more and the clouds outside were looking pretty scary. My daughter picks up the radio and says “Oh”, I knew at this point that it wasn’t just a severe thunderstorm that there was something else going on. She tried to play it off as though nothing was happening but I knew things weren’t right. Jax was pacing even more and I should have just put a straw in the wine bottle and drank it that way. I looked at my daughter at asked what was going on. She finally admitted that we were under a tornado warning. I have never been in a tornado warning, watch or anything having to do with a tornado. I really started to panic. Since my daughter doesn’t have a basement I didn’t know what to do which really made me very nervous. My son-in-law said that if it goes to tornado watch we needed to get into the pantry or the bathroom. I refilled my glass and prayed for the best.
A tornado never did hit but it was a moment in time that I would never forget. People that live with this kind of stress on a regular basis amaze me. I don’t know how they do it but I’m glad it’s them and not me. I don’t ever want to go through that again.
