Friday, May 30, 2008

River of Tears

Emotions were running a little high in Ohio as Kelsey made final arrangements to leave for her month-long adventure in China. Then the news reached her that Kearney, where she lives, was being hit by tornados. I shared what news I could, what was coming from the TV station about 50 miles away from the action. She was remaining as calm as she could, there was no bad news, she could deal with that. It was after the storm had moved on and she reached everyone by phone and knew that everyone was safe that the emotional storm erupted. All the worry came spilling out in a torrent of tears. Worry over friends, her things, the town that has become her home.

In that moment I was her mother, in the most real sense of the word. I was the woman she turned to who allowed her to cry without judgement, let the river run.

Don't know how she slept last night. I do know that my heart is heavy. Sometimes rivers spill over their banks.

No comments: