My sister and her daughter came to visit on Saturday. After playing with stuffed animals, watching some shows, eating supper, and having dessert—specially prepared by Amelia—Amelia was ready for bath-time with Nana. And so into the bathroom they went. As I sat on the couch and worked on lesson plans, I heard Amelia giggling with joy from the bathtub. When I went back to check on her, she was sitting in the tub with a bubble beard. She was so happy, and everyone in the house was happy for her.
Then the alarms went off.
The first warning came on my sister’s phone. “We’re under a tornado warning,” she said. Then my mom and dad’s phones sounded sirens and my phone started vibrating off the couch. “We need to get into the closet right now!” my sister said. “Get out of the bathtub, Amelia. We need to get into the closet.”
A few minutes later, admittedly not moving as quickly as I should with a tornado warning, I made my way into the closet, computer and charger in tow. Following behind me were my dad and a very scared Bullet.
So there we were: Mom, Dad, Dana, Amelia, Bullet, and me crammed inside my mom’s closet…and Amelia had on nothing but a white towel and a huge grin.
Even though Dad and Bullet left the closet after only a few minutes, the rest of us stayed inside until the tornado warning was over—which was at least thirty minutes. Dad kept us informed of the weather with his emergency radio. Dana sent e-mails from her phone. I worked on my lesson plans. Nana trimmed and painted Amelia’s nails—pink and purple…which ended up matching her pajamas perfectly—and Amelia just kept grinning.
Toward the end of our time in the closet, Amelia said, “Nana, you are very good at doing nails. You should do this for money.” Mom said, “But not in the closet!” Amelia giggled and said, “No!!! Of course not. At a salon or something.”
Then we reentered the rest of the house with a memory that none of us will forget.
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