Tornadoes, Family, and a Wedding

Ryan and I made a trip to Jackson last weekend for our friend Trey's wedding. The weather was looking a little rough for Friday morning's flight which seems to be the norm for me... flying in windy, turbulent weather. Fortunately, after a 1 hour delay, we landed safely in Jackson.

All of Mom's sister's were in Meridian visiting with Grammy all week, so Dad picked us up at the airport and off we went to join the party. About 20 minutes from Meridian, I called Mom and got no answer so I called her younger sister. She informed me that they were at a bank and Mom was on the phone with the neighbors as a tornado had just come through Jackson and there were lots of trees down. Apparently, the girls had walked into the Community Bank in Meridian and the clerk said "We're sorry, our computers are down because a tornado has hit Jackson and our branch on Old Canton Road is without power." Immediately Mom realized this was a bad sign, as the Community Bank in reference is a stone's throw from our house. She immediately started calling the neighbors and found out that our house was "okay", only some missing shingles, but that there were trees down and a couple of our close friends on the street had trees on their homes. At that time, she didn't really know the breadth of the damage, which we would later find out.

We arrived in Meridian and had a wonderful Southern lunch at New's (Catfish, Fried Chicken, Black Eyed Peas, Fried Pickles, Sweet Tea) while the storm blew over Meridian. The power went out and the wind blew hard, but there was no "freight-train". The storms had weakened by the time they got to Meridian, but still did some minor damage here and there.

We stopped by Grammy's new apartment so that Ryan and I could see it, and so that we could help her with her jig saw puzzle (Ryan's specialty). Her place is really cute and she seems so happy around all the other people. As we visited, it was obvious that we were all on edge and ready to get back to Jackson to check on things, so we packed up and headed back. It was a short trip to see Grammy, Rosanne, Dee and Becky but well worth it!

As we pulled into North Jackson, you could see that most every place was without power from about Northside Drive. This continued to my parents' neighborhood. As we pulled down Plantation, heading toward our side of the neighborhood, it was shocking to see the damage. There were trees and power lines down everywhere. Trees had fallen on homes and cars. The tornadoes had not touched down but the winds were strong enough to uproot and snap hundred+ year old trees. It was just so hard to drive through what is "home" and see the destruction.



When we finally made it to our street, after several detours due to down trees, we confirmed the neighbors reports that our house was okay. Some of our neighbors were not as fortunate. One had 3 trees on his house, one that went all the way through the ceiling of his inside utility room. Others had trees causing some surface damage, trees leaning on their homes, uprooted trees across driveways and streets with power lines tangled in them. Homes in other parts of the neighborhood could very well be destroyed by large trees that crashed through the middle. Mom and Dad were very lucky that the wind blew the way it did, and that Mom decided to cut all the trees in the yard down when I was still living at home.






The power came back on today but some in Jackson are still without. It was an interesting weekend at home, navigating the house by candlelight, hearing chainsaws and generators pretty much constantly and weaving through the neighborhood to try to get to someplace with power to eat dinner. James helped Dad get a generator at a store in Hattiesburg -- so Dad didn't miss the Final Four, though after UNC got spanked, I am sure he wished he missed it.

All the pictures taken by Ryan and Dad are here.

Ryan and I had Keifers (with Mom and Dad), went to the wedding
and hung out with our SAE friends on Saturday. Sunday morning we headed back home to Texas... to lights, air conditioning, cable and internet!

Sweet Home Mississippi

I love living in Texas, don't get me wrong. I don't really ever see myself moving back to Mississippi. But, I love coming home. I don't get to see my parents near enough and talking to Mom every day is just not the same as being home. My company has expanded their campus recruiting to Mississippi State so I got a free trip home to help out.

I flew in on Sunday and headed straight to church after a quick stop at the house to change clothes. Dad was all in an uproar about how horrible "State" (MSU) played the day before, knocking themselves out of the SEC Tournament. I always joke that I rarely heard my dad say a cuss word growing up... and when I did it was 99% likely that it was because some State team was on TV and had just done something stupid. Anyway, it was a nice welcome home... getting the play by play of the last few minutes of the game and how State lost a decent lead due to stupid fouls and missed free throws.

Going to church is always a great homecoming. My parents have been members of Briarwood Presbyterian Church since sometime in the 70's. James and I were born members of the church and spent much of our lives at church events. When I come home, I sometimes feel like I'm a movie star. Everyone at that church thinks of everyone else's kids as their own. I had a huge second family through the church. So, they are all so glad to see us when we come home. It's always a delight to see "Miss Virginia", charter member of BPC. Miss Virginia was the Sunday School teacher of most of the children of the church at some point in our lives and loved us all like we were her own. Everyone wanted to know "How's Texas?" and I got lots of nice compliments on my new hair do! :) You know that feeling of just being "home"? That is really what its like to go back to church. Jackson is my home, Briarwood is my home and no matter how far I go, that will always be true.

After church, we headed to lunch at the one place that Ryan and I both must eat each time we are back in Jackson... Keifer's. We met one of my best girlfriends, Ashley, and her little boy Jackson, for lunch. The last time I saw him, he was just so tiny, maybe 6 weeks old. He wanted nothing to do with anyone but his mom. But Sunday, he was all smiles and let me and my mom hold him all through lunch. He was just so cute. It was a great lunch... Pita Mozz with Feta dressing, Chicken Gyro with Feta Dressing, Ashley, Jackson, Mom and Dad. Can't get much better than that. Ryan really missed out!

Sunday afternoon Mom and I ran some errands then came home to catch the end of the Rockets game. Yes, I am a Texan now and I love my Rockets who were in the middle of their winning streak... going for 22 that day, and they won. The church had a crawfish boil that night so again, Ryan was jealous. Keifers and Crawfish all in one day.

Monday, Mom and I had lunch at her favorite Japanese "fast food" place OEC (mmm, the pink sauce and the fried rice) and I headed to Starkville for our MSU Recruiting trip. I do lots of driving in Houston because of my commute but the drive from Jackson to Starkville is just so different. So few cars, not much to look at other than trees and road. It was a nice change of pace, though sort of boring too. I couldn't find much on the radio other than Rush Limbaugh, so I channel surfed most of the way up there.

After our information session Monday night, my coworker and I went to have dinner at the Cotton District, a local restaurant/bar. It was a good reminder of small town Mississippi. Our waiter had the typical southern drawl and was just as nice as he could be. I ordered a Michelob Amber Bock, one of the few beers I like. I credit the like of it to Keifer's because that was one of 3 beers they served for the longest time so its what my friends always ordered. Its hard to find at bars in Texas as most only serve Shiner Bock, a Texas Beer. The waiter came back several minutes later and apologetically informed me they were out of Amber Bock. When he saw my disappointment he said "Try a Southern Pecan, I promise you'll like it. And if you don't love it, I'll buy you something else." Aww, Southern Hospitality at its best. Southern Pecan is a Mississippi Beer so I gave it a whirl. I enjoyed my beer, it was good, not quite as good as Amber Bock but it was good.

Tuesday I drove back to Jackson in time to have lunch at McAlister's with Dad. We had a nice visit and didn't talk about State basketball the whole time :). And then I made my trip back to Houston.

I love the South and I love Mississippi. I love not having to ask for Sweet Tea, they just know thats what you want... and every restaurant has it! I love not sounding different than everyone else (and yes, in Houston, I get the "I love your accent" comment all the time). I love seeing Mom and Dad. I love sleeping in "my" room. It's just nice to go "home".