Devastation

We here at the Miller A-Team generally like to keep our blog posts light and fun. Andrew and I have been doing an awful job at updating recently, but life has gotten in the way of our blog time. There are no new Gold Car stories for you, and for that, we apologize. Although we love updating with humorous stories of our ever-so-slightly uneventful lives, I thought I'd take the opportunity to write about something serious.

I would like to address the horrible devastation in Joplin, Missouri.

My parents grew up in a town no more than 10 minutes away from Joplin, so they spent a great deal of their childhoods there. We would go to the movies, go eat at many of their restaurants, and go to the mall there when I was growing up, so it was a part of my childhood as well. A normally happy town was absolutely ravaged by these horrible tornadoes. My mother and I recently traveled to Joplin to check out the devastation first hand. I took my trusty camera with me and was able to capture some unbelievable images from my mother's car.

 Burger King = gone. Play Place = in tact.

 Many trees had no bark. Several had debris in them/wrapped around them.

I have a sick feeling that this was the nursing home that was destroyed...

 The Lord's Prayer (and a lovely shot of my mother's car's dash board)

Trampoline

It said, "So long, Joplin...Florida Bound!" The random bits of humor let us know that the town's spirit was not harmed.

 St. John's Hospital

 Unreal.

The house was completely destroyed, so they had to put the house number on the tree.

This is a twisted metal sign.

A look into someone's garage.

In tact kitchen. It was so strange to see sights like this.

This is a pretty good representation of the destruction.

You have to love that spirit! This was on a sporting goods store that was destroyed, as you can see on the left.

Please, send donations, volunteer your time, or simply pray for all those who lost their homes or family members. 

http://rebuildjoplin.org/

Next post: volunteer experience with my grandmother at the Royal Heights United Methodist Church.