What’s important?

In the 30+ years I’ve lived on top of a hill in Iowa Township, I’ve only gone underground in the face of severe weather a couple of times. Ironically, one of those times was only a few months ago when the Jan. 16 tornado took everyone by surprise. Each time it’s been a mad scramble to collect dogs, phone and laptop and dash down the basement steps.

When the National Weather Service added a Particularly Dangerous Situation tag (capitals theirs) to the tornado watch on Friday morning, March 31, it was time for a pre-emptive strike. Instead of grabbing random items in a panicked rush, I decided to organize a well thought out and orderly collection of Important Things (capitals mine) before things got hairy.

First, canine and human necessities. Crates for the dogs. If the house was either blowing away or falling down on our heads, I didn’t want to count on being able to hang onto to leashes. I thought about adding lawn chairs for our unfinished basement, then decided not to bother. If the house was either blowing or falling, I was not likely to be sitting there calmly.

I added a case of bottled water, considered food and rejected the idea. Again, if our house was in shambles, we were unlikely to be sitting amid the debris, snacking. I carried down the dogs’ food containers, however. While the Red Cross might show up post-twister with sandwiches and coffee I wasn’t sure if they stocked dog chow.

Next came flashlights and lanterns, all with new batteries. I charged a small power bank which I can only assume works because I’ve never actually used it. I tossed a winter coat and gloves on the pile, since the day’s 70 degree high was expected to plummet to the 30s with snow flurries once the weather system moved through.

Important documents were already in a safe-deposit box in the bank but I have a huge file box filled with the choking amount of paperwork that is my mom’s estate. I hauled it downstairs, not wanting to chance my agonizingly ordered files being cast to the wind.

Then I grabbed an empty laundry basket and looked around the house. What was valuable enough to merit carrying it down the dark, twisty stairs to the basement? I added our wedding photos, laptop computers and the accompanying spaghetti of cords and charging cables. Prescription medicine. My purse and both sets of car keys. My wedding rings and a few other pieces of jewelry.

I stopped and looked around again. There was no way I could gather up all the meaningful items that make a house a home. The family antiques, show photos from six generations of dogs, aerial photos of family farmsteads over the decades, my favorite mixing bowls, dog training gear … If we got hit, those things would simply be gone but our lives would go on.

I watch news coverage of families picking through the rubble of their homes and farms after a tornado strike and share the sadness of so much loss. Almost without exception, Iowa folks smile and say, “Things can be replaced. We’re just happy no one was hurt.”

That’s what’s important.

Comments: Melinda.Wichmann@southeastiowaunion.com