Helpless

I hate feeling helpless.  I hate that a nation is grieving its lost and hoping to have their lives spared as well.  Even more so, I hate that one of my very best friends lives in that country and is experiencing it all first hand.  My mom called me last Friday because she was worried about the tsunami hitting us.  We are only 1/2 mile from the beach front and we are beach level, we are not one of the lucky ones sitting on a hill.  Ok, we are lucky to only be 1/2 mile from the beach,. anyways.......I had just woken up so I had not seen the news so I had to ask why on earth we were on tsunami warning and she told me about the earthquake in Japan.  My stomach dropped.  I ran downstairs and turned on the news and the only words out of my mouth were "Oh my God, Julie!!!"  I immediately picked up my other phone and the sweetest voice came on the other line.  "Oh my God, you are ok!!!!!"  I normally am not one to use the phrase "Oh my God" but I felt it worthy in this instance, I thank God that my friend and her sweet kids are ok.  I listened to her tell about the earthquake and what has been happening since.  When I am not talking to her on the phone, I am glued to her Facebook, looking for updates on her and her husband who is in the water pretty darn near everything, so much so that the whole ship is wearing radioactive gear to keep them safe.  I watch our news to see what is happening and my heart sinks everyday when the news of the power plant gets worse.  Then I got news this morning, she is being evacuated.  Where to?  No one knows.  She will get a knock on the door sometime soon with the news that it is time to go and her and the kids just need to follow.  I feel helpless!!!  I cannot imagine the fear.  I cannot imagine having to choose what belongings I need to bring with me because Lord knows what might happen to the rest of it before I am able to get back.  I want to shelter her, i want to shelter that whole nation of people who are suddenly in fear of their lives, not knowing their future.  I know a lot of people are not the praying kind but this is a situation where you need to get on your knees, thank God for your health and your family and pray for those who don't have any of that any more.  If I feel helpless and scared, I can only imagine what they feel being in the thick of it.  Julie, I know the last thing you are doing right now is reading blogs on the internet, but please know how much I love you and am praying for you.  You, Chris and the kids are not just friends, you are family and I love you!!!!!  Stay safe my friend, I know you don't feel it, but you are a strong woman and can get through all of this.  And then one day when we are 80 and still dancing on the bar at Coyote Ugly, we will look back and reminisce about the strength you had in this horrible situation.  To the people of Japan, you are constantly in my prayers and I pray that God gets you through this and you are able to get back to your lives as quickly as possible.  And for the thousands of people who are grieving for those lost, you too are in my prayers, I cannot imagine the pain you are going through.  God bless you all!!!!!!

UPDATE: The evacuation for some reason has been called off.  Obama swears that our American citizens in Japan will be evacuated but my dear Julie was supposed to leave yesterday and they now tell her it needs to be on her own dime.  Airline tickets right now are at $3,500 a pop and she has 4 kids plus herself.  Who can afford $10,000 for plane tickets?  Please, contact your local congressman or mayor or whoever and let them know that our military families need to be evacuated and it needs to happen now.