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Tuesday, August 11, 2009

So Where Are We?

When I was a kid growing up in northwest Ohio, I recall many tornado drills in addition to several times having to go and duck in a ditch near the grade school and once while in high school. We were prepped beyond belief and to our discomfort for a very real situation that occurs in Ohio.

Believe it or not we also had nuclear emergency drills. Does anyone else remember those? Pretty hilarious now, because we were told to get under our school desk, but our country was under the cloud of the Cold War and it seemed being proactive in things was better than sitting and twisting our hands. Clearly those in charge knew that children going under desks would not do anything, aside from eliminating panic for those that had no control.

As preppers we all understand that some things that can and may happen have no prep measure available. We understand that in crises of any form, natural or man made, location has much to do with results.

Yet we still proactively plan and prep for the what ifs. We are resolute in the notion that when the crises clear that you will see us first. We are the First Responders so to speak, as we have had our heads in the game. We may see things that will level us inside, but we have prepped for so long that our actions will be rote.

When my husband had his accident while on duty, I was told he had not made it, but I mentally in a second decided that my kids would not know until I could go and say goodbye to my love. I therefore planned to give my kids a school desk for a few moments, until I had returned from the accident scene. Now the good news was that on the way to the accident scene we heard rapid radio traffic calling for Flight for Life, and my husband did survive. But you get the point. We need to have some wiggle room for our psyche.

None of us will be immune to the anguish or stress one feels post a crises. Believe me the most stressful moment in my life still is the day an officer came to my door at 10 pm to tell me my husband had died. This still is a hard thing to recall and brings me to tears now~This is what I hope to address in a few posts down the way- how to maintain and go on in the aftermath of anything. I wanted to allow you all to toss a few thoughts on the complete prepper attitude and how to be strong after any crises physically(needs met-food clothing-shelter) and mentally.

I am not a big fan of psychology in the blame game scenario, but I am one to see prepping full circle. So what are your thoughts?
Jennifer

6 comments:

kymber said...

Jennifer - what an absolutely traumatizing and horrible thing to have ever suffered - my heart goes out to you! i have tears in my eyes and wish that i could have been there to hold you!

and you had the fortitude to stay strong and not tell your babies until you said goodbye to your love? you are amazing!

i love that you say that after a crisis that the preppers will be the First Responders...we WILL rise up amongst the dust and debris and we WILL try to find ways to survive and continue to go on!

i hate getting too mushy in public (ya right! i can't seem to help myself on this network!) but Jennifer - you inspire me to become better and more prepared every day! i think you inspire us all! Thank you for your very important contribution to these networks - YOU are an example to follow!

i got a little off topic but i can't wait to read more of your posts in this series! as for myself - i find that since joining the network and meeting everyone and learning of their different ways to prep --- it has taught me to become stronger emotionally, physically and mentally! outside of learning of different ways to prep (what foods to store, how to store them, growing your own food, stockpiling ammo, etc.) - i have learned that psychologically speaking - you must be mentally prepared for whatever comes! you have to become mentally strong because if you fall apart mentally or lose your positive approach - it can be sooo detrimental and at that point - it doesn't matter how much food you have stored!

does this make sense at all or contribute even a little to what you are saying?

Anonymous said...

Prepping your mind is just as important as your food storage. I'm so glad your husband is okay. We need to be ready mentally to deal with whatever comes our way.

matthiasj
Kentucky Preppers Network

Phelan said...

I am so sorry. I worry about my husband and his job. I know he is safe, but we have lost too many friends because of other people.

I actually wanted to say something about the nuclear bomb drills. My mother grew up in La and they had these drills. When were first moved here to Kansas she had never heard a tornado siren before. Every Monday at noon these things go off around the state. My mother panicked when she heard it, and ran with us to the neighbor's because she knew they had a bomb shelter. They managed to calm her down and explain.

But the lesson here is, know your area.

Gen-IL Homesteader said...

Oh, my! What trials you've had to deal with. I'm so sorry. You must be quite a survivor. Thank you for sharing those hard, personal things with us. God bless!

wvsanta said...

Jennifer
Like so many of your post very well done…I do remember the drills you mentioned….The mental preparedness is a very important subject as well….I am sure that was a very hard situation for you and will look forward to future post about this…Thanks for sharing this and trying to get people to think…Very important..
Santa

American Preppers Radio Net
When All Else Fails Ham Radio Works

ErinAndBrad said...

Okay Jen - you made me tear up again - drats. But, you are so right on - prepping is a state of mind - lol - I swear we are all on the same wave length! I blogged on state of mind too LOL!
hope your day went well and that you did great!!!

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