One thing that we know is that writing is a wonderful exercise for a racing mind. When people find themselves in the midst of a traumatic event physically or mentally, there is a need to express all of the new found thoughts and fears.
As this college quarter draws to an end, I think about the chapter that we studied just last week in my Psychology class. Stress was the subject and within that subject was Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This week’s closing topic of study is mental illness to include Anxiety and Panic Disorders. In light of the last 24 hours, I have turned to a blog that didn’t exist ten weeks ago. Here I can put all of the thoughts racing through my mind.
Although I have certainly not experienced the events of March 11, 2011 first hand, with the continued development of technology, we are all practically on Sendai’s doorstep. The video and audio are so vivid that we practically feel the shaking and we most certainly feel their fear. I also have the Spiritual Gift of Mercy, which means that I’m extremely empathetic and feel things deeply and emotionally.
To further explain my draw to the country of Japan and its plight is the investment of 6 years of my family’s life there. We lived on Misawa Air Base, Misawa, Japan. This Air Base is just North of Hachinohe and that city is about 2 hours North of Sendai. During our six years there, we were very active in a Southern Baptist Mission Church in Misawa along with a lot of other military families.
What we found was remarkable. Everyone was far away from home and yet babies were born, children became ill and military members left home for months at a time for temporary duty assignments leaving their spouses at home to function as single parents. Yet we were never alone. Military Service is a community, the Air Force is a community, and being a member of Calvary Baptist Church, Misawa, is a community. With the introduction of Facebook and other social networking sites, these communities didn’t close when we left. They are active, alive and interactive.
While living in Japan, in December of 1994, we experienced a 7.8 earthquake. The epicenter was just barely North of where today’s epicenter was. It hit Hachinohe hard and shook the snot out of us. It was after 9 PM, we were all upstairs in our military townhouse. The shaking started and we all went flying down the staircase, opened the front door and stood in that doorway. I stood wedged with my 4 month old baby boy in one arm, my 5 year old daughter in the other, my 12 year old daughter was right next to her and my 15 year old son stood facing us with his arms stretched across the doorframe as if to hold it up for us. My 12 year old was screaming, “It’s the Big One, It’s the Big One.” And me yelling over the crazy loud noise that a large earthquake produces, “Shut up, Delayna, It’s okay Danielle, Shut up Delayna, It’s okay, Danielle.” Where was my husband you ask? Well he flew down the stairs into the den to offer up a prayer to the great computer gods. As he held one hand against his heavy, off- balance monitor and the other on a clunky CPU, I could almost hear his prayer, “Oh god, don’t let them fall.”
Besides the on- going emotional effects of that experience and the very common bruising that comes from being bounced off of the doorways, there is an unsteadiness on your feet that lasts for days. The doctors are seeing patients for weeks still complaining of feeling off balance.
We have dear missionary friends that serve in Sendai. My first thoughts went to them, Tony and Marsha Wood. I posted on Marsha’s Facebook page and then posted on both of their adult children’s Facebook pages to get a report. By mid day today, Marsha posted. They are safe and sound and actually in Tokyo. Shelves were cleared and drawers thrown about, but safe none the less.
In closing, let me encourage you to be prepared for disasters. Do you know what to do if an earthquake strikes here? Does your family have a plan? Do you have a three day emergency kit? If not, go to the American Red Cross website to start your preparations. There is great peace in being prepared.
We are a strong and blessed people, love one another!
