At times like these, we are reminded of the closing lines of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s greatest poem, “Ulysses.” They speak to something deep inside us all: the ability to face life’s adversities with courage and strength ... to rise up when life knocks us down.
Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
The scenes of the devastation wrought upon the Elon community Sunday evening are painful to gaze upon, even as photographs on the printed page or as a flickering image on a television screen. We can’t begin to imagine the horror, the piercing pain, the overwhelming sense of loss experienced by those for whom the tornado’s wrath is their life now.
Two dozen houses — no, more than houses, homes — destroyed or severely damaged by what the National Weather Service says was an EF2 tornado with maximum winds of 130 mph. Miraculously, no lives were lost when the twister struck, but the lives of those who made it through the minutes of sheer terror will be forever changed. Time will always be marked as “before the tornado” and “after the tornado.”
No one who hasn’t gone through such horror can fully know what it must be like — staring possible death in the face and, then, having survived, facing complete rebuilding.
The story of Elon resident Leecy Fink and her family is especially touching.
Fink, who is waging a years-long fight against breast cancer, found herself with her husband (a sergeant with the Lynchburg Police Department) and family huddled in the basement of their home as the winds raged above their heads, destroying their home. Water, both from the rain but also burst pipes, soon began pouring in. Neighbors got them out in the knick of time.
The Finks’ home, like so many of their neighbors’, was destroyed. Possessions, mementos, the knick-knacks of decades together as a family were lost ... but not what truly matters: each other.
Much was taken Sunday evening in Elon, but much abides. And that’s what will get this community through this nightmare.
* * *
If you would like to contribute to the Elon recovery effort, Gleaning for the World — gftw.org — is the exclusive clearinghouse for all monetary donations.