What it was like.

Just thought through some of this for an update to our financial supporters... here's what it was like during the quake.
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The afternoon of the January 12 my whole family and all of our staff were at home. I had come home from working outside the home and was tired so I went upstairs to take a nap. While I was laying there, I heard a noise beginning that sounded like a big truck dumping a load of rocks. Loud noises around here are nothing new so I just disregarded it but then the whole house started shaking. And I jumped up and started running. And by shaking I mean rolling beneath my feet. Rolling such that I could barely walk because it was tossing me over. My first thought was not earthquake. My first thought was that our house was collapsing. That happens sometimes randomly in Haiti—these huge block buildings will collapse due to poor construction. I thought that’s what was happening. And the thought passed through my mind, “I am probably about to die.” I ran outside and down the stairs, trembling with fear. I grabbed my children to me and tried to make sure that we were all accounted for, still not sure what had happened.

It was Nick who first said, “Wow, we had an earthquake.” Up until then it didn’t register. And then when it did, my ears opened to the wails of those around me on the street. I vividly remember making a conscious choice to push the fear aside and clicking my head into go mode. And for the most part, that’s where we’ve lived since.