Thinking of West

As you may have heard on the news, last night the city of West, Texas was rocked by a fertilizer plant explosion. I cannot begin to imagine what those who live there are feeling and how they have been impacted by this tragedy.

My husband and I live about 20 minutes south of West. As I was leaving work last night I saw one...two...three...five police cars race down the freeway. Moments later more police cars and fire trucks raced northbound on the freeway. At that moment I wasn't aware of what happened but I knew it was something big.

Working for a major retailer, I went to work this morning expecting something out of the ordinary. As I walked into the building I ran a mental list of associates and checked to make sure they were at work, safe.  I spent the morning arranging the delivery of supplies that I knew our customers would come searching for. Next, we began searching for our associates who reside in West. Thankfully, we were able to locate everyone and learn that they were indeed safe.

At 9am a man came up to me asking where we kept the flashlights. On our way, he told me he used to live on the top floor of the apartment complex that was destroyed by the explosion. He had had just returned to town from a business trip that morning to discover his home was no longer there. What struck me the most was that he came into our store to purchase a flashlight and a jacket with the intent of driving back to West to help look for survivors. This man, who had just lost his home, was more focused on finding survivors than worrying about where he would sleep that night. I think that describes the attitude of the city of West pretty well; they are a town of people that sticks together.

The next time I looked at my watch it was 5pm. My day had flown by, filled with some of the most generous people I have met in my life. It was amazing to see how many people from the surrounding area came in to find supplies to take to West.

I don't know what the coming days will hold for West, but please continue to keep them in your thoughts.