I felt it.
I laid my sweet babies down for their afternoon naps. Gracie was snuggled up in her bed, Ethan cooing happily in his crib. I walked into the kitchen, although I no longer remember why, and I felt it.
The floor under my feet began to shake. I stood, paralyzed, trying to process what was happening. I looked at my dog, who was cowering low to the ground. He felt it, too. I could hear my house shaking, which was perhaps one of the scariest things of all. Was the ceiling going to collapse, was the floor going to crumble underneath me? Within seconds, I pulled myself together, assumed we were experiencing an earthquake, and took off for my childrens' rooms. As I made my way from the kitchen, through the living room, to the hallway where their doors are, all I could think was, which child do I grab first?
The thought was nauseating and I'm just overwhelmed with gratitude to our God, because I didn't have to make that choice. I didn't have to rescue my children and run for cover. I didn't have to figure out what to do, where to go, how to protect my babies. The shaking of the house seemed to stop almost as quickly as it had started, but I was left quite shaken. I am still bothered by the fact that I just was not prepared. Had it been a stronger earthquake, I don't know that I would have reacted fast enough, or in the best possible way. I simply did not know what to do. I felt helpless.
I called my husband immediately. He was working in the basement of a building and didn't feel a thing. I actually began to wonder if anyone else felt it at all. I sent a text message to my mother, who then attempted to call me multiple times. We were disconnected each time. I tried calling my dad, my sister, my husband again... for about 10 minutes, I couldn't call or receive calls from anyone, and most of my text messages failed to send. This, too, made me so nervous. I just wanted to know that everyone was okay.
I quickly learned that I did indeed experience an earthquake (magnitude 5.8), which originated in Virginia, right around the cities where Sean's family members live. Thankfully, they are all just fine. I'm still watching the news, preparing for the possibility of small tremors following the actual earthquake, and feeling so thankful that it was what it was, and nothing more...
The floor under my feet began to shake. I stood, paralyzed, trying to process what was happening. I looked at my dog, who was cowering low to the ground. He felt it, too. I could hear my house shaking, which was perhaps one of the scariest things of all. Was the ceiling going to collapse, was the floor going to crumble underneath me? Within seconds, I pulled myself together, assumed we were experiencing an earthquake, and took off for my childrens' rooms. As I made my way from the kitchen, through the living room, to the hallway where their doors are, all I could think was, which child do I grab first?
The thought was nauseating and I'm just overwhelmed with gratitude to our God, because I didn't have to make that choice. I didn't have to rescue my children and run for cover. I didn't have to figure out what to do, where to go, how to protect my babies. The shaking of the house seemed to stop almost as quickly as it had started, but I was left quite shaken. I am still bothered by the fact that I just was not prepared. Had it been a stronger earthquake, I don't know that I would have reacted fast enough, or in the best possible way. I simply did not know what to do. I felt helpless.
I called my husband immediately. He was working in the basement of a building and didn't feel a thing. I actually began to wonder if anyone else felt it at all. I sent a text message to my mother, who then attempted to call me multiple times. We were disconnected each time. I tried calling my dad, my sister, my husband again... for about 10 minutes, I couldn't call or receive calls from anyone, and most of my text messages failed to send. This, too, made me so nervous. I just wanted to know that everyone was okay.
I quickly learned that I did indeed experience an earthquake (magnitude 5.8), which originated in Virginia, right around the cities where Sean's family members live. Thankfully, they are all just fine. I'm still watching the news, preparing for the possibility of small tremors following the actual earthquake, and feeling so thankful that it was what it was, and nothing more...
I'm sorry you were so panicked by it! I didn't feel it at all at work, and neither did my parents (who had my son at the time, but I know my husband did feel it so you're not dreaming haha. It makes me think I need to have some sort of earthquake plan just in case. We did get another small one a few years back...do you remember that at all? I was scared then, and it was so minor!
ReplyDeleteMegan, those small quakes (I covered them at the station) were all less than 3.0 in magnitude, but centered much closer to us. I saw a geologist on the news this evening say he thought this was the "max" our area could experience, earthquake-wise... so no need to worry!
ReplyDeleteSo scary!! We didn't feel it here in AL, but I've been following the news and facebook updates from friends. So glad it wasn't worse!!
ReplyDeleteMegan, I think I do remember that, but I didn't feel that one apparently!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, that's good to know!
I think I was so scared because I just wasn't sure what was going on, or if we'd felt the worst of it! It was one of those "maybe I'm crazy" moments. :)
This thing won't let me comment on my own blog... so now I'm posting as Anonymous... Ha!
ReplyDeleteChristina