our tuscaloosa trip

It has taken me a few days to put this together and to wrap my head around our weekend in Tuscaloosa. I brought my camera with me because I wanted to get pictures for this post, but then I thought to myself this is not a tourist attraction. pictures don’t need to be taken, there is work to be done. and trust me when I say, the pictures do not do it justice.  and if you watch the news, you have seen what tuscaloosa looks like right now.

The 1st time I saw 15th Street I was speechless. It took everything in me to not cry. I know there were business and restaurants there, but what they were, I cannot tell you.  Forest Lake … there is really a lake back there, I always thought it was a little pond.  But no, it is a full big lake.  For miles all you see are houses were just flattened and what houses were still standing are covered in tarps. There are houses and buildings that have the katrina markings to notify of body counts.  As you drive into Downtown you can see kids playing in the fountain, but not even 400 feet away is a big FEMA setup. Flags all over town are still flying at half mast. And I swear, if you never watched the news and drove certain parts of that town you would never know a massive tornado had hit that town a month ago.  Devastation is the only word I can use to describe what we saw as we drove down 15th street. I was telling Kyle how you’re not supposed to see certain landmarks from certain parts of the city, but now you can. I saw things that I never thought I would see and it was all in a town that I love.

And Saturday and Sunday for the 1st time in the longest time I was without my phone.  I felt that I needed to 100% be focused on helping out and updating my facebook or twitter page could be and should be saved for after I was in the hotel, showered, and done for the day.  And it was amazing to not see 1 phone out the whole time we were working.  I guess America really can disconnect from their phones when it matters.

Saturday: Kyle and I got up REALLY early.  6:30 AM early and were at the Animal Shelter by 8:00 AM.  I secretly was hoping to be able to walk the dogs and give the dogs baths and be able to love on them – but when we got there we were asked if we liked cats and were told we would help with the cats area. I am not a cat person at all, but we nodded and said we were there to do whatever.  They ended up getting distracted by our donations and once my car was unloaded we ended up working in the garage cleaning out cages and moving animals.  I immediately found 4 dogs I wanted and got teary but made myself not cry and got and dirty cleaning out cages.  The worst was when we were told to sort and stack bowls since we were surrounded by super sad looking dogs.  I made the BIG mistake when I decided I wanted to walk the shelter floor.  There were so many beautiful dogs that so badly just want to find their families or go to a new home.  Their eyes and their tail wags killed me and I lost it.  *here come the tears thinking out it*  I just wondered about them and who they belonged to.  If I ever lost Mulligan in a tornado or anything, I would be at the shelter everyday looking for him.  I saw 2 people leave with their dogs that day and it made me so happy, but I also saw 2 people come in looking for their dog and their dog not be there and the sadness and defeat in their face as they walked out of the shelter killed me and I had to fight back the tears (not doing a good job of holding them back now). We also saw someone bring a dog into the shelter which was sad too.  And when I overheard the director talking about potentially having to euthanize some of the dogs due to over crowding it took everything in me not to cry.  A dog is so innocent and so full of love, and over crowding is such a sad reason for a dog to be put to sleep. Please. If you’re ever in the market for a dog, rescue one.  There are so many amazing dogs that need good homes and to be taken out of shelters.  And I really believe a dog knows when you save them.

Sunday: We headed to the big Tuscaloosa Emergency Services donation warehouse around 10:00 AM to haul and sort donations.  We got there and learned that they didn’t open till 1 normally on Sundays because of church but they did not want to turn away volunteers since they needed help and they put Kyle, me, and this other guy Blake right to work.  And they had us sweating quick as we sorted foods into categories. We did pretty much everything from sorting food to hauling donations to various sides of the warehouse.  It was unbelievable how many donations had been brought on and what was brought it.  I think it is wonderful that people felt compelled to donate their belongings, but I wish people would think about what they were donating.  This is not an opportunity for you to ditch your junk.  We sorted empty tins, single crushed pop tarts, left over christmas candy, bar soap that was SO old that it was crumbling, cleaning supplies, paper products, clothes (and there are A LOT of clothes), diapers.  But I know we should not judge those who donated and what they donated – at least they felt the urge to do something.  Around 1 the big organized groups showed up and Kyle and I felt like we were more in the way than helping, so we chose to leave and get back on the road to Atlanta.  But in those 4 hours we worked and worked hard.  I do not know where the donations go from there – we were only sorting and boxing them up – but I can tell you they have A LOT but still need A LOT of the essentials like food and toiletries.

I would say my only complaint about this weekend was the attitude of some people. 95% of the people were grateful we were there and wanting to dive in head first.  But there was that 5% that made my wonder if I was hearing them right. On Saturday when we were picking up our credentials so we could volunteer the Samaritan’s Purse people had a nasty attitude that we weren’t helping that day but the next day and wanted to start at 10:00 rather than 1:00.  With a tone in their voice we were told “we could not start working till 1 because of church”.   And then in the warehouse on Saturday the AmeriCorps people just threw attitude around  since “they had cleaned this place up a few days ago” and thought they were better than everyone else helping out.  To me: no one is better than anyone else.  We all were there because we wanted to HELP.

And I think I cried more writing this than I did when I was in Tuscaloosa. Oi. Probably because when I was there I was focused on working and helping and did not really give myself the chance to process what I was seeing. But it was a great weekend, I wish I lived closer because I would volunteer more. If there is one thing I know for certain it is: that town is going to be needing help for a LONG time, there is so much rebuilding to be done. And I hope the big groups of volunteers continue to pour into that town and that people don’t forget what happened there.  Greater things have yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city. Roll Tide.

I saw this after the storm and it still is amazing to watch.