April 18, 2010

Dear Grace,

            The craziest thing ever happened at work on Friday night! So my coworker, Brittany, and I were closing the store, so it was close to midnight. I took an order out to the drive-thru and there was a little wind picking up, and it was trying to rain, so it was a little bit misty too. Then I went back inside and started helping Brittany clean up the store right? And all of a sudden I heard the wind outside really start to pick up. Then all of the windows started shaking and trembling because the wind was so powerful, and I was scared that they would break or shatter. Outside I could see the table umbrellas outside getting bent in half. Then the doors (the kind that are hard to push open, like the ones on a school) started blowing open and closed, like they didn’t weigh hardly anything at all.

            So Brittany said she would have to lock one of the doors because she was afraid that the glass on the doors would break if they kept banging open and closed, so she ran over to lock the doors and I ran around to get outside and try to rescue the table umbrellas. However, when I tried to push open the door, I couldn’t get it to budge an inch, so I thought that Brittany had locked the door, but when I asked her, she said she hadn’t, “It’s the wind, hun!”

            I kept throwing my weight against the door, but I still couldn’t get it open. Finally, after a minute, the wind let up a little so I was able to get the door open and run out to get the only surviving umbrella down, but by then it was mangled and twisted and bent to the point that I was sure that it wasn’t worth saving. But I took it down and brought it inside anyway, just in case. The other umbrella was long gone, since the wind had carried it away.

Like ten minutes later, some guy came in with it and said he’d seen it get blown away and he had chased it two blocks down before he could catch it. He also brought back a bunch of things that had blown away, including the American flag that used to be on top of the store, and the Sonic flag that used to hang right next to the Sonic sign out in front of the store. Along with all of that, he told us that two of the menu boards (the kind you would see in a drive-thru) on the parking lot had blown open and the papers and plastic casing inside had all gotten blown away.

So I went out to the parking lot across from ours to see if I could find any pieces of the menu boards, and all I found were a few broken pieces of plastic that had once been the plastic casing. I don’t even know where the rest ended up, but I’m sure they landed somewhere very far away. Is that crazy or what!?! I think we must have been hit by a mini-tornado or something, because the winds came very suddenly and only lasted maybe two or three minutes and then just as abruptly died down.

It was so scary at the time, but now I wouldn’t have missed it for the world! It was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever experienced.

This morning when I woke up I thought about you when I saw the peacock feather you gave me sitting above my window. I suddenly thought about the days of summer and spring that you and I spent together, sleeping out in the shed, curled up in sleeping bags, taking hikes up over the mountain, shopping at the dollar store together, and staying up late to watch movies—all the fun things we used to do together. Do you miss that as much as I do? This summer just won’t be the same without your sweet smile to make the sunny days brighter, and your laugh that brings a twinkle to my eye. Oh gosh I miss you kiddo! I can’t believe you’re turning eight next month! It’s crazy, isn’t it? Are you thinking about getting baptized yet? Do you have any special plans for your birthday? Are you going to have a birthday party with all of your friends? I just know you have lots of friends because you are just the most loving and lovable person in the world!

Well, I’d better wrap this up, but I just want to let you know how much I love you and I hope that things are going well for you and Garrison and your mom. I love you so so so much!

Love always,

                        Katie Jo