How to part a teenager from their cellphone

My sister was fascinated by the hurricane.

My dad and I asked her, repeatedly, to step away from the sliding door.

It wasn’t just the hurricane. It was the sounds of the tornadoes clearing out our backyard that kept her attention. We were crammed into my dad’s office in our basement.

My sister, my dad and our two large dogs. Our dogs are retired K-9s. Gumbo was a patrol dog and he is normally high energy. Hopper was a bomb dog and is a little more mellow, but during the storm both dogs were like statues. Altogether, we sat in a windowless room, for several hours.

You could feel the house shaking. Glass rattling in the windows, and things slamming into the house. We were texting my mom. She was at work and doing okay.

We didn’t have a bathroom downstairs and I really needed to go. I ran upstairs just in time to watch a large oak tree push through our top floor. It sounded like a giant stepped on the house. I ran back downstairs to tell my dad we didn’t have a roof anymore.

“Were you able to use the bathroom at least?” he asked

“No,” I said.

Once the storm passed, we went outside to check out the damage. It was bad.

Our neighbors have a paralyzed son and needed a phone to get in touch with family. I had AT&T and let them have my phone for several days.

If you ever wanted to know what would separate a teenager from their cellphone the answer is a hurricane.

I didn’t mind. They needed it more than I did.

After the storm I would help my mom at the restaurant where she works. I passed out food and drinks. So many were so grateful.

We had gratitude for the smallest things. As we should every day.