I know many of you were readers around this time last year. You offered your condolences, sweet letters and care packages, and you were there for us. I cannot even being to express enough gratitude to all of you who were there for us in our time of need. Friends, family and strangers alike, I've never in my life felt such an outpour of love and support. Now it's our turn to help our Sisters to the South with their recovery. I know several of my readers were affected by this disaster, and even if not directly, their friends and family were. With many friends in the Birmingham area, my heart breaks at the coverage on the news.
Sometimes it's hard to fathom just how something like this can happen. Even with living in Tennessee, tornado devestation just seems like something you see on the Weather Channel. Like it doesn't actually happen. Much less to you or someone you know. But that is exactly how I felt about floods.. and then I experienced one for myself. My life has been changed dramatically by that event, and I'll forever remember it. Even a year later, I honestly feel as though it was some sort of twisted blessing in disguise because it brought into my life so many wonderful people. Our entire community pulled together to support one another when the catastrophe failed to make national news. We fended for ourselves, but that doesn't mean they should have to.
It's so easy for us to just look at the news and feel numb when we see things like this. The media has definitely left us a little less responsive to catastrophic events such as what just happened. So many people were there for us when we needed it, and it really truly meant so much. Now it's our turn to give back. If you've been on the fence about sponsoring before, think of it as a wonderful way to help those in need. People have been stripped of their homes, material possessions, and even family members. All of the proceeds will be donated to the American Red Cross here in Nashville (down the street from our house) on Monday, May 9th. Please email me at kaelahbee@gmail.com if you'd like to partake.
oh how wonderful Kaelah.
ReplyDeletei know my parents in chattanooga were so scared..they say it was pretty bad there..i was worried to death.
it was esp. hit hard in ringgold, ga only a couple of miles away from chattanooga. it is such a horrible thing for anyone to go through. my heart goes out to everyone who is going through this tragedy. i am so sorry you had to go through that last year. :(
thanks for posting this. <3
i <3 ya..
xoox
ps. i do not know if you read my blog post or not but my bf in maryville, tn had her baby yesterday during all of this mess. she was coming rain or shine.. :)
This makes me so happy to see. The town I grew up in, Phil Campbell, AL is a small town of 1091 people and a lot of people are saying they are finding more dead than alive right now. My cousins barely survived when the house they were in was completely demolished. We are still waiting to hear back from other family and friends. It really isn't getting a lot of coverage because the town is so small I assume. Its so devastating and heart breaking seeing all of this and not being able to be there to help.
ReplyDeleteI'm not too interested in doing sponsorship at the moment maybe one day! But I am going to make a donation to the red cross anyways. Thank you for having it in your heart to help! <3
What a sweet thing to do! The Red Cross are unsung heros, that's a really thing you are doing
ReplyDeleteThese photos are so heartbreaking they brought a tear to my eye. I didn't know about your wonderful blog a year ago so I had no idea you went through all of that. I'm so glad you're here, a year later, stronger because of it. Your heartfelt compassion for others is inspiring and your kindness radiates through your photos and words. Thanks for being you!
ReplyDeleteWe still haven't heard.from our family In Alabama...its so stressful.
ReplyDeletethats such a beautiful thing you are doing. i'm so sorry that happened to you and i'm sure it's so difficult to look back on. <3
ReplyDeleteI've been reading your blog for about 3 months now and am now commenting because I'm from Tuscaloosa, AL- one of the hardest hit areas. You've always had such a sweet spirit in your posts and I just wanted to thank you for the attention you're bringing. Our community is pulling together in unimaginable ways to rebuild our city, but the devastation is still incredible. God is definitely at work here and even if somebody can't send supplies or donate, make sure y'all pray- we could sure use it!
ReplyDeletei live in huntsville, alabama. we are currently at gulf shores because we had to leave our home. nothing was destroyed, but 100% of north alabama is out of power and water, and is expected to be without for at least 10 days. having two children, staying home was just not an option for us. :-/ but we are so incredibly thankful to be safe.
ReplyDeletethe very last photo you posted was the road i took to my boyfriends house every day. i live in tuscaloosa, alabama. it's just as bad as it looks. thank you so much for helping people to be aware of this situation & for your kind hearted-ness, it means so much.
ReplyDeleteYou are such a sweetheart for helping and raising awareness. This storm was so crazy and it's so heartbreaking to see all of the damage. I was watching the storm live on the weather channel and I felt so helpless..all I could do was pray. I have family in AL and it was so terrifying to not know if they were okay [thankfully they're all safe].
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for posting this. Love ya pretty lady! XO.
you're a ray of sunshine, you know that?
ReplyDeletexo.anna marie
Kaelah, I'm a new reader, so I wasn't aware of what happened to you in Nashville. I'm sorry you had to go through that and think you're wonderful for donating sponsorship proceeds to the Red Cross.
ReplyDeleteI was in a tornado in 1998 that was much like the ones that destroyed Tuscaloosa. My family and I lost everything and my mother almost died from her injuries. We, like you and all the victims of these tornados, have been forever changed. The impact is so great and nothing will ever be the same for them again. My heart goes out to all victims and it makes me smile to see people like you doing something to help.
Kaelah, I just saw this post now. You have such a big heart & I love ya that much more. Thank you for posting this & being so generous to apply your sponsorship money towards such disasters. We all appreciate it, really. I definitely do. Your sincere kindness will go so far. Thank you again & also, thank you for checking up on me. That really touched my heart. Much much love.
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful thing you are doing! You have a great heart! I'm going to donate to the Red Cross. :)
ReplyDeleteSince I'm from Georgia we have suffered horrible damage to our town and the towns around us. they said that this tornado will be written down as one of the worst storms in history. It's so scary to think that a F5 tornado touched down only 5 miles from my house. It tore down every house in it's path and completely destroyed a gas station I have been going to since a child. So far 5 are dead in the surrounding counties, (2 from ours). Our whole state is devistated, and I can only imagine how much worse Alabama is since they were hit the hardest. Thank God we are okay and our home is okay. Thank God you guys are okay as well. Much love and I'm terribly sorry for y'all's home last year. I know it must have been devistating as well.
ReplyDeletexo
lyndsey of hellolyndseyyy<3
Such a respectful and sweet gesture!
ReplyDeleteBeing a new reader, I've just seen for the first time what you went through last year. thanks for posting this, it brings a smile to my face to see people rallying for their neighbors during times like these.
ReplyDeleteI live in NC right where we had over 20+ tornado form about 2 weeks ago. Thankfully it didn't hit my neighborhood but entire shopping centers were wrecked, over 200 people died including 4 children in a trailer park. It looked exactly like the pictures you posted. It's a terrible thing. Thankfully my community and Obama has come together as well making it a national disaster so that these people can get funding and loans.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this! I wrote up one as well but I haven't gotten the traffic I hoped for to get the message out. I am in Northern Alabama and was very lucky in the storms. Surrounding areas were not. We all have to pull together. What happened in TN last year was horrible and this is as well. Thank you for taking time to put such great words out there. My heart goes out to all the families affected across the states from these storms. oxox
ReplyDeleteThis is an awesome thing you're doing. I live near Atlanta but for the grace of God it hardly even rained where I live. But I know a few people badly affected by that storm. Any help in any way is a blessing to these people. But I'm sure you know after dealing with mother nature yourself.
ReplyDeletei had no idea you experienced this last year. this is so heartbreaking, but I love your encouraging words. It's horrible but I'm so glad it was just belongings the severe weather reached and not your lives. Thinking of the families xx
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