Well... last Friday I was bound for Oklahoma so I could attend my aunt's 80th birthday party, when a little thing called a tornado changed my plans.
Aunt Bernice and Me last summer
The plan was to fly to Denver, have a short layover and then onto Oklahoma City. My flight from Salt Lake to Denver was delayed for over two hours because of high winds in the area. When I arrived in Denver, the agent said we would board in about 30 minutes.
I soon found out that there were severe thunderstorms in the Oklahoma City area, so we would have to wait for the weather to clear up.
About six o'clock we heard a tornado was on the ground.
The passengers at the airport were evacuated to an underground tunnel and the airport was closed.
So many families have damaged homes and suffered tremendous losses from the storms.
After all that happened last Friday, I'm feeling extraordinarily grateful. Even though I was disappointed that I didn't make to Oklahoma, I know I was protected. My brother, his son and family drove all the way from Cheyenne and made it safely to Oklahoma, something else to be thankful for. My aunt and her family in Oklahoma were also safe.
I was at the Denver airport for about 8 hours. There was a flight back to Salt Lake City departing at 9:00 with only two seats left. I claimed one of them and was glad to be headed home or so I thought. I didn't actually get on the plane until until about 11:30, ugh! I was so happy to see Tim, it was a loooong day. We pulled in our driveway about 2:00.
I was also sad because Mark and Tiffani gave me the airplane ticket for Mother's Day. I thanked them for the trip to Denver, HAHA! It really was so generous of them and I appreciate their thoughtfulness. Maybe another time...
P.S. We had tornado warnings in Cheyenne many times. We saw funnel clouds form a lot but they rarely made it to the ground. I was working at the Highway Department one year when a tornado passed directly over our building. It continued on to the airport and followed a path right to my Dad's house. It was leveled, thankfully he was at work when it happened. Not much you can do about the weather.
Grandma Federer in the pink pants surveying the damage.
.JPG)
