"I Love Rock 'n Roll"

Remember that old Joan Jett song, "I love rock 'n roll, put another dime in the jukebox baby?" Well, those of us here in SoCal didn't have to drop a dime in a jukebox today, we rocked 'n rolled for free! It's been awhile since we've had a quake here, and I guess no matter how many you've been through, they still catch you off guard and I still REALLY hate them!! Brande was in the family room playing with Riley. I was talking to them from the dining room, when all of sudden you hear this "noise" and stuff starts to rattle and it takes a second to realize, "oh crap, here we go". I think Brande and I both realized we better head for a doorway at the same time. She jumped up, grabbed Riley and we stood under an archway that divides those two rooms. As soon as we got there, one of my big vintage advertising signs flew off the kitchen fireplace. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw the water in the pool turning into mini waves. In those few seconds, so many things go through your head. Where is everyone, please let them be safe. I started to worry about Riley being afraid, but when I looked at her in Brande's arms, Riley was just laughing and laughing. For some apparent reason, maybe because she's always liked to dance, she thought the "rock 'n roll" was pretty funny!

As the shaking stopped, the ground that is, I was like everyone else, I grabbed my cell phone without realizing that everyone else was doing the same thing! Bryce, my son, had called me five minutes before the quake started telling me he was on the store roof, you know our old 1919 building, fixing something! I just kept thinking of him on top of the roof, and Katie, Darcy, and Brad inside the building. As you know, there was no cell phone reception, but when you are a little "shook up", you don't think logically, so I just kept dailing. Finally the house phone rang, and it was Katie. Everyone was fine, Bryce wasn't thrown from the roof, the store was okay, and thankfully most of us here in SoCal walked away with just some butterflies in our stomachs.

It makes you think though, about when you say good-bye to those you love in the mornings, that you never know what our days hold ahead for us. And stuff like earthquakes reminds me how grateful I am for those in my life I love so much, and to never take that for granite. And I'm also thankful my Riley can find humor and laughter in "rocking 'n rolling"!