Life as a Christian Woman

Only one life, it will soon pass; what is done for Christ is all that will last.
Found jotted on evelope in Mrs. Edna Strickland’s lockbox.

It was one year ago, on March 1, 2007, that an EF-4 tornado struck the little town of Enterprise, Alabama. Within minutes, the only high school lay in ruins with hundreds of teenagers and adults amid the rubble. The tornado also cut an 8-mile path straight through the town, leaving unbelievable destruction, leveling homes and businesses, destroying an elementary school and changing lives forever. Eight of those precious students at EHS were lost along with one senior citizen in the community.

One year later, both reminders of the tragedy and renewal can be seen. Many houses have been rebuilt or are in various stages of completion. Some were abandoned, though, still showing an empty lot where a family home used to sit. A contract was awarded to Bailey-Harris of Auburn to rebuild Hillcrest Elementary School on the same site as the old school, which was damaged beyond repair and completely razed. EHS will be rebuilt on new land where there is more available room for expansion. At this moment, there is only empty acreage and a lonely football stadium where these two schools had stood next to other for so long as symbols of an outstanding education system.

In some places, the renewal will take decades. Stands of trees that were always a part of the landscape of my life-long home are now gone. There is one hill in the middle of town that tugs at my heart strings still. As a girl, before the highway and traffic and buildings encroached upon it, my father used to take my sister and me to that hill where we would spend a Sunday afternoon sliding down it on a piece of cardboard. Now as I pass by it, there is a discernable scar across the top where the tornado took the same path I used to take, crossed the road, and continued into the houses on the other side. My childhood memories of those Sundays with Daddy are now overlaid with a new sadness.

My home town was forever changed in so many ways on that day just a year ago. Some ways are good, though. The tight community is now even closer, brought together to help and heal each other. The thousands of volunteers that poured in to help, gave donations, and supported us in prayer will never be forgotten; and “thank you” will never be enough. Schools and other public gathering places across the country were jolted into reevaluating their own disaster preparedness plans and making improvements to better response. We have seen the best and brightest in our fellow human beings, and the strength and perseverance that a community can have together.

Many services will be held over the weekend. Once again, we will gather together and remember our nine fallen loved ones. We will discuss our hopes and plans for the future as we try to build new schools for our displaced students and new homes for those families still waiting. We may even laugh as we compare stories of how we overreact now at a sudden clap of thunder, or stay glued to The Weather Channel at the first hint of storm. We will probably cry; and we will most certainly heal.

IN REMEMBRANCE:

Michael J. Bowen, age 16
Peter James Dunn, II, age 16
Andrew Joel Jackson, age 16
Ryan Andrew Mohler, age 17
Kathryn Madora Strunk, age 16
Michael D. Tompkins, age 17
Jamie Ann Vidensek, age 17
Allice Michelle Wilson, age 16
Edna Strickland, age 83

Enterprise High School, EHS memorial, Enterprise Alabama