Right now, there are several tornado warnings in and around our county. Anytime we have severe weather, I'm always taken back to the Liggins family reunion in Alexandria, Louisiana in 1996.
I don't remember much about that reunion, but I do remember a night where we had rented out a conference room of the hotel we stayed at for talent night. Once it was over, everyone was heading towards the exit when the lights went out for a few seconds. I figured someone accidently brushed up against the light switch. Soon someone said that there was a big storm, possibly a tornado warning. Once we got outside, I saw little debris flying, yet cars still on the road. My mother and I went back to our room where my dad was already in bed. Mom and I changed our clothes and went to my aunt's room where other family members gathered to sit around and talk. In the room, I didn't understand why my family was joking with each other, and re-telling what occured at talent night. Didn't they know there was a really bad storm outside? We could get swept away. I ignored everyone and hid under the covers.
I'm not for sure if it was just a bad storm, a tornado threat, or even part of a hurricane in Alexandria, Louisiana. All I know is that I left the deep south with fear. Once we returned to Louisville, I was scared to death anytime it rained. My mom worked the night shift then, and if she left for work and it was raining, there was no way I wanted to stay alone. So I crawled in the bed with my dad, hoping he would put on his spandex and cape and rescue me if I had blown away by wind, or swept away by water.
Years later, I have gotten over my fear of rain and thunderstorms. In fact, I welcome them now. I love to sleep through them. But when I think back to the nights I found myself seeking protection from the weather, I chuckle and think, "What was I thinking?" My parents couldn't have stopped the rain with their super heroic powers. My dad couldn't blow the tornado away, and my mom couldn't send the lightening back from where it came from. Had a tornado siren sent us to our basement, and the wind took away the roof, I'm sure my parents would have shielded me with their bodies, but without super powers.
There are no superheroes in real life as those in the comic books. There are real life heros such as police officers, firefighters, or even ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Yet to our children, we are larger than life figures, saving them from the Boogeyman, scary shadows, and monsters under the bed. We adults know these things are unreal, and shadows are just shadows, but we put on a brave face anyways to protect our kids. My son Elliot always fights the sleep. He cries and cries when he knows he's sleepy. He'll yawn then fight, then rub his eyes, then fight again. The other day, Jeff was trying to calm him down, and then he said, "It's okay, you can go to sleep. I won't let the Boogeyman get you. I'll fight him for you." It sounds silly, but these are what (some) kids believe in. Elliot's only 3 months old, but soon he'll hear about this scary man. And then both of his parents will fight to the death for their son.
Even parents will have to make believe every now and again.
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