Why I love Modern Technology . . . Earthquake Edition

Where are Taylor and Kelly? Tokyo 2009

A few weeks ago, I got a call from Alaina telling me there had been a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in Japan.  And I hung up on her. It was 1 AM,  and I had just started to doze off so it took me a second to shake off the sleep fog.  I heard my phone buzz again, and the fog was gone, replaced by a pit in my stomach. We were in Denver visiting friends, so I padded down the stairs so I could call Alaina back without waking anyone up. I tried turning on my friends' TV, but couldn't figure it out (I am very technologically challenged) so I flipped open Tay's laptop, looking for the latest updates. Then I saw an email from my Dad:


Bad earthquake here. Mom and I are safe for now. Phones aren't working. Will communicate when possible. 


 It was nice to hear from him, and know he was OK. The "for now" part? Didn't love that. It was in the middle of the day in Japan, so I knew my dad was at the office. Who knew where my mom was? I settled into a love seat and thought about my parents' adventures. They have experienced their fair share of  disasters. Our cul-de-sac became a river when Houston flooded in 1994. They were in Washington DC for the snipers, and 9/11. They were in New Orleans for Hurricane Katrina. When they moved to Tokyo, we joked about the bad luck they would bring to their new city. A couple of months later, Mom had her heart attack. That felt like a disaster to our family, so we decided that that had been their Japanese disaster. And here I sat again, waiting for news from my parents. 


I began searching online for news on the earthquake, and only found preliminary reports. I saw that Tia and Alaina had both signed on to Skype and we began to chat as we waited. It brought so much comfort to me, being able to talk to my sisters as everyone slept around me. 


We talked for a few hours, as we waited to hear that my parents had found each other. That my dad had scootered his way home from the office after the first two big earthquakes. That my mom had evacuated to a park, and then gone to help a friend. That though the after shocks continued, they had found each other and were both OK. We finally got through to them on the phone, and hearing their voices brought more comfort. Tia and I decided it was OK to try to go back to sleep, and joked about the mindless things we would think about in an attempt to be able to fall asleep after all this craziness.


But it was the Skype conversations in the middle of it all that meant so much to me. Thanks to Skype, I was able to talk and feel close to my sisters even though we were spread across the country. And my dad, huddled under his desk in his hard hat, seventeen stories up, was able to send us an email on his Blackberry as the world shook around him.  (Go away Bear) We finally got to hear their voices thanks to Vonage. And after finally falling asleep, I woke up to many texts and emails from supportive friends and family. So many tender mercies. So many blessings. Ain't technology grand?


Our prayers continue for Japan.  Courage, love, and hope. Kami sama ga mamoru youni.