You can't fix a disaster in a day...

 this is an actual picture from the tornado on april 27.

As I was driving through one of the tornado stricken towns yesterday morning, I saw houses still left to be finished. I saw work trucks lining the roads, debris in piles on empty, lifeless lots. I drove past construction workers who are still rebuilding, still working, still repaving a community that's in shambles. How long will this take? It's already been 3 months. We could set a time limit but would just end up setting ourselves up for a big let down, or we could do it day by day with no goal or ending in sight. This disaster will not be fixed in a day. It might take some a lifetime to rebuild their homes and memories, while some may never feel whole again. Yet, we still put a timeline on what we think is acceptable. We still expect this world to move on from a past and rebuild a future, when all they want is their past back. In the nursing lingo, that time of grieving is excessive, so we say suck it up, move on, or we will slap the crazy card on you.  We can not rebuild towns in a day, so why must we expect to rebuild relationships, broken promises, or lost loves in a timely manner too? Who made this limit? Who created this expectation? But maybe, just maybe if it were supposed to work in the past then we wouldn't have this to deal with in the first place. So say you do. How long do we get until it's healed? One day, one month, or maybe never? Then we are left with a past that we just can't get passed. Unlike the tornado, this came tumbling down over weeks and months. It didn't strike just one day. Maybe that would make gathering the pieces a little less complicated. So shouldn't we get more time to fix the wounds? When is it time to slap a gauze on it, a little normal saline, add lots a tape, and let it heal on it's on? From of the looks of it, that takes time, but no one is that patient with their time. Believe me. Maybe it's unrepairable, but who am I to judge? I often find myself reliving a past that I may never get passed. This town will not be rebuilt any time soon, and I'm not sure if this past will either.