on march 11, 2011, between 5-7pm
(note: i didn’t get around to writing this post soon enough, i was rather distracted + worrying most of the time seeing the coverage on tv about how devastated japan was after the twin disasters + now the threat of a nuclear melt down looms, as if the ordeal the japanese people went through was not enough, my heart went out to them, as well as my prayers of courage + hope + grace)
i was in my usual perch in front of the pc whilst jared was tearing our room down, climbing up + down the bed. it was a friday afternoon + i planned to catch up on writing some entries for the friday blog memes i intend to join that week while i browse through the facebook status message of mummy friends on facebook. mommy karen posted that an earthquake of 7.6 (confirmed later on to be 9.0) magnitude was registered in japan that afternoon. it was actually no news since japan has been known to experience tremors every so often i thought. then the news on the 30 meter tsunami came out + a little later after that i felt a sudden jolt shook me from my online reverie.with the broadband cord swaying beside our room window + my chair shaking as if someone is playing with it from behind, i concluded, yeah, it was indeed an earthquake.
i searched online for the latest on what is going on in japan + was astounded + shell-shocked by the magnitude of the disaster + the devastation it left afterwards. raw footage of people fleeing from their houses, of the tsunami itself sweeping cars, trucks + even planes in its wake, of the ground breaking apart + water spewing from it shortly. it seem all a part of a great disaster film, except that it is happening in reality. which made it all the more scary.
a quake was predicted here too between 5 and 7pm of the same day + i decided not to leave jared alone in the room (in his playpen, of course) so i can take a shower + waited for my sister to arrive first instead. i searched for more news about the plight of japan online while i waited.
my heart goes out to the japanese people for having to go through this ordeal, thinking how quickly their lives changed in split seconds. it made my pining over my weight + bulging mid-section seemed trivial, childish even.
i wake up with a grateful heart each day after that. grateful that once again our country is spared from such tragedy + that we continue to enjoy life’s little + simple pleasures like having a comfortable home, clothes on our backs, the members of my family all alive + not a single one missing, well save for mum + pops. i now appreciate the blessing of merely being able to wake up each morning…
it has been awhile since that fateful day + the japanese people continues to struggle + get on with their lives, day after day. rescue operations were able to discover a lot of missing people + sadly a lot of casualties too. people are huddled in temporary shelters + food, water, clothing + other primary needs are slowly becoming scarce. resources are stretched too thin + the country is in crisis. many organizations are already in japan providing the much-needed help + relief. Let us do our share to help japan. here are some of the organizations you may want to consider donating to in order to help fund their emergency response:
and if you are a blogger too, you can also join in PostNJoy’s help japan promo, they will donate $2 for each registered entry you send in.
let us do our share in helping japan. remember that no amount is too small, whatever amount of money you wish to donate will go along way.
