Last night was our first night as a family braced against a violent storm. Luckily, even though the storm was the worst we've experienced in the five years we've lived in this house, it didn't damage our property other than knocking down a tree in the woods behind our house and blowing down some limbs. But the night was scary, for me mostly. Cherish woke during the storm but didn't get out of bed, and Willow slept through the whole howling thing. We anticipated the storm, so Cherish asked that I set up the Pack-N-Play in our bedroom so Willow wouldn't be alone when the thunder and lightning hit. I charged up my phone and got our emergency radio and flashlight ready. The storm hit a little after 1 a.m., and I was up for it. It was a wall of wind and rain, really, with few lightning strikes. Something cracked in the backyard, so I peeked out. I couldn't see far because of the slashing rain, but Willow's swing was flying parallel to the ground. During the ...
A father's journey to finding the right words.