It struck with no warning, and left its ugly mark upon the bustling city,

The EF5 cyclone tearing a swath through the town.

As we look towards tomorrow,

We find that digging through the leftover debris is not only heartbreaking,

It is emotionally breaking.

Digging through the rubble,

Is like digging through past memories,

And you find a partially erect baby’s crib,

And you immediately wonder if that family still has their baby to hold close at night.

then you come across the tattered picture of a family of five,

Everybody smiling,

The memory forever captured in that moment.

You never have a thought about yourself, and it is selfless to think that you were the only one hurt.

You find that you share a common pain with the people of your community,

And that even those who were not effected directly by the storm,

Have suffered through it all, Not for anything they lost,

But for their neighbors.

But as that devastated city pulls itself from the ashes,

And begins the long process of rebuilding,

It becomes stronger,

Not only from new stone and fresh mortar,

From from overcoming complete and utter devastation.

The power of one city in a nation of many,

To overcome great destruction,

And pull through stronger than before,

Is nothing short of a miracle.

It is born of the willpower that this nation was born from,

And may that strength never fail,

And may it never be forgotten what was lost that dark day.

God bless the people of Joplin, Missouri,

And Godspeed to all.