Way to go! They'll be over before you know it!

Robin, you should be very proud of your accomplishments.
I am proud of you. You're doing a great job.

You go girlfriend!!!!

Thanks y'all! I am very happy about it. I knew I would have a really hard time with tonight's class, so I was getting fired up. Good thing I did.

After driving there, every memory of the past 25 years or so got touched tonight. My first "real" boyfriend's home had 50 year old trees downed. My first home with a husband, the place where we turned to go there, the landmark businesses I used to drive by are leveled (nothing stands in a 100 foot radius there), a friend I haven't seen in about five years lives down Tomahawk Trace, the street we like to drive down at Christmas time to see the lights decimated.... the list goes on. Twisted poles, destroyed buildings, tarps on every other home, railroad track uprooted, I just couldn't be believe what I was seeing. It is horrible. I cried all the way to class. Just when I calmed down, my classmate tells me all about the two who died... well, let's just say, that family is the greatest thing since sliced bread, so in love with each other, so so so in love with their new child... he was clinging to her and the baby when they were ripped from his arms. I mean could it be any worse? He's either in too much pain (broken ribs and back) or too shocked to understand they're really gone. Every classmate had a story. I vied with dump trucks filled with the remnants of homes all the way there. Our teacher is a major in the police department. I wish I'd had a recorder to catch all his numbers. 62 injured, 7 admitted, 1 lifeflighted to VUH. Search and Rescue from LaVergne, Smyrna, and Nashville all came. The police are being augmented by LaVergne and Smyrna. County. THP has a command post on the south end of town. The most amazing part of the foces,every last one of them showed up before being called. Volunteers continue to clean it up; it's in the millions worth of damage. The National Weather Service upgraded it finally to an EF4.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kori Bryant's story

How tragic, Rob. Your post started off so joyful. I'm sorry for all the devastation and hurt you described ... tornados are so arbitrary in their path, and life so uncertain. The best way to deal with it is to hug your loved ones and pick up your books again...make every moment count. josh

Rob, I am so sorry. Living in tornado country is hard. I always have a guilty feeling when I rejoice that we have not been hit, but somebody has, whether it is a couple of blocks over or 100 miles down the road.
1...9... it will go by fast. What a great accomplishment.

Thanks guys. Can you believe it'll be 8 classes after 4:30 today?! Woohoo.

Yes, it was amazing how many people I knew that had been affected. To sit right by the Bryant's friend, boy, that tore me up. Do you know this is the first deadly tornado in Murfreesboro's since 1950? It is really amazing no one more were injured/died in it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Good Friday tornado as reported by NOAA

The downside of spring - tornadoes. The upside is that you're almost at your goal. Congratulations!