20 Years Ago.........

I will never forget this day.
I will never forget how hot it was.
I will never forget how we were swimming an hour before.
I will never forget the green color that was in the sky as we drove home.
I will never forget the hail that was the size of softballs.
I will never forget the sound of something hitting my house as I started running.
I will never forget hearing the words “get into the basement.”
I will never forget running down the basement stairs.
I will never forget stopping at the bottom and looking up at family and friends that were still stuck at the top.
I will never forget the look on their faces.
I will never forget the image of the basement walls cracking and blowing away.
I will never forget watching the basement door blow away.
I will never forget the screaming for everyone to get downstairs.
I will never forget the cut that was bleeding on my mom’s face.
I will never forget hugging my cat who was thankfully in my arms.
I will never forget running to the corner of the basement.
I will never forget watching rubble tumble and filling the basement stairway seconds later.
I will never forget how it was raining in the basement.
I will never forget the sunlight that started peering in the cracks in the basement ceiling.
I will never forget the sound of my mom yelling for help.
I will never forget how neighbors helped pull us out through a window.
I will never forget how I turned to look at my house and saw across the street.
I will never forget how the basketball pole looked as it bent towards the ground.
I will never forget going to a neighbor’s house and crying with other neighbors.
I will never forget how worried I was about my dad and not knowing where he was.
I will never forget the sight of him running down the street because he couldn’t drive to get to us.
I will never forget sitting in the dark at my uncles house.
I will never forget how I felt when I was told that St. Mary’s, my school and church had been hit.
I will never forget hearing the news that Sr. Mary, the principal and my music teacher, Ms. Sanchez had died.
I will never forget hearing the news that my neighbor, Howard, was dead.
I will never forget that my dad slept in his truck that night in the driveway of what was once our house.
I will never forget that people were out looting and they called the National Guard.
I will never forget driving to Jewel at midnight to get a litter box and cat food for my cat.
I will never forget driving to my grandparent’s house because we had no where to live.
I will never forget staring the news for days.
I will never forget how generous and concerned my family was.
I will never forget the sounds of the machines as they bulldozed what was left.
I will never forget the smell of the huge piles of burning rubble.
I will never forget what the steeple of my church looked like.
I will never forget the image of a piece of hay that was impaled in a tree.
I will never forget how they found my mom’s wedding ring by combing through the carpet.
I will never forget how my baptism gown was still in my closet with tissue paper folded over the top of it yet the lid to the box was gone.
I will never forget the wooden cross that still stood hanging on the wall of my parent’s bedroom.
I will never forget seeing the snowman we found and how we made him hold the American flag.
I will never forget going through belongings that were salvaged and cleaning them off.
I will never forget living in a rental house and sleeping in the bathtub during storms because there was no basement.
I will never forget sharing a school with another school.
I will never forget going to school in trailers for 2 years.
I will never forget being bused to the old Joliet Catholic for high school.
I will never forget when we moved back into the new high school.
I will never forget moving back into my house after it was rebuilt.
I will never forget the feeling I get in my stomach when I hear those sirens go off.
I will never forget the people that showed up to help.
I will never forget how this once small community pulled together.
I will never forget to thank God for letting us survive this force of nature.
I will never forget anything about that day 20 years ago.
I will never forget the sights, sounds, and smells from that day.
I will never forget August 28, 1990.

Here is my driveway looking into what's left of our garage and living room.

My bedroom with some clothes still hanging in the closet.

The side of our house. My bedroom and my parents. Look at the cross still hanging on the wall.


Our family van rolled off the driveway and into my sister's room.

Our family room.

What's left of the backyard.

The kitchen. Notice some dishes still sitting in the cabinets.