Earthquake, Earth Shattering!

Last week there was a 5.8 earthquake, here in Orange County, California. Any time a disaster occurs, I suppose,, it is easy to pinpoint where you were at what time. I was stuffing my mouth with the remainder of the tuna fish salad that my granddaughter and I made for her lunch. I ignored the first thump, and continued to munch on the carrots.

The second jolt raised my ire, and I dismissed any thought of anything other than a sonic boom from an airplane that just flew too close to my house. That thought passed quickly once my housekeeper crashed our vacuum cleaner into the wall with a resounding thump and began speaking faster and addressing me more frenetically in Spanish rather than English. As I followed her racing thoughts to get my grandchild immediately, I could see her judgment was clear and balanced. Mine not so much . Now , I am still thinking that we have an airplane above my house that is creating the noise. So I have no idea why I have to pick up our little one. But when I saw the fear in her eyes, I bolted for the car. One more loud boom led me to believe there was some seismic activity.


Now I don't know about how any of you rate yourself on earthquake performance. But the earth IS NOT THE ONLY THING THAT SHAKES. I begin trembling But I have planned for this day since I moved here during the Northridge Earthquake about some fifteen years ago.

In usual fashion, the Welcome Wagon was not the first thing that greeted my husband and me into the state of California . Rather, the rattling and shaking of our beds was not consistent with the lull of soothing rocking motion. At first the deep sleep kept us in a dazed, comfy, surreal state. Then the fully conscious , alert and startled me awoke and started shaking.

The rock and sway and roar of the earthquake sent us soaring and tumbling, while the air rumbled with as strong a sound as a train rolling through our home. I can remember my husband yelling,"stand under the doorway. I couldn't find him. Where was he? Under a table??? Now I find out that the doorway is a good way to die! Good strategic performance for families under stress?????


Well time is a great healer . So we settled in almost as good as native Californians. We got over it, Life went on as usual, and our family had planned for future safety measures. The flashlights, water, cars filled up with clothes, all of the best intentions,but none of that happened. We did bolt our wall units, so that they didn't fall on us.


But there is a chill that goes through every part of your body, when you believe that your child is not safe. Your mind goes to places you have never traveled on your own. . A child out of sight for just the slightest moment; stranger danger; terrorism. If I thought about each of these things when my first family was growing up, I would have hid them in a closet. Fortunately, our mind can be retrained and allow us to live a normal life. It's the great adjustment. The normalization of the dramatic events that could occur are washed away so that our children can go to school, have play dates and go on as usual. And we all grow up hopefully to be only mildly neurotic.

Despite the fact that one has been a parent a million years ago, does not lessen the fright. The mind is a very creative , detailed, and strong at times.
The rude awakening of an earthquake with a child, is another kind of scare. They can be so far away, and what would I do. When it was just my husband and me, we only had each other to worry about. But now all rationale is out the door. Normal does not make it.

So I drove as fast as I can to the school, 20 miles away. There she was! Smiles!

The teachers prepared the children for what was going to be a normal life for our little girl. She adjusted well. And I stopped quaking, and realized I had a mom moment. A first time , second time and third time mom moment. After all I’m a granny-mom.