Reflecting on the Possibilities and the Blessings
If you don’t mind, I would like to take a moment for some personal reflection. If you have known me for several years – or heard me speak, you may have heard me talk about the even that occurred on this day in 2008.
I was conducting a workshop in Las Vegas with a great group of call center leaders. At about 5:10pm Vegas time (7:10pm Memphis time) I received a call from my wife. She said she was in the closet with my daughter because there had been tornados in the area. She was taking shelter with my daughter. She also said that she had been texting with my son when he stopped responding. Of course, my response was to say I am sure everything is OK. I talked with here and asked her to please keep me updated.
Ten minutes later she called to tell me that he was still not responding. She also said that there was a report of a tornado touchdown in Jackson TN. My son was a Junior at Union University in Jackson. We again tried to make each other believe that “everything was OK.” Of course it was not. At that moment my son was buried under what the first responders described as two to three tons of concrete and steel. He had been in the main commons area when the tornado “imploded” the building – burying him and six of his friends. Over the next four and one-half hours, he lived out an event that I am still not sure I understand.
But, today is an amazing anniversary because at 11:30pm Memphis time, he was pulled from the ruble “alive and breathing on his one.” The rest of the story is told in a blog that we created during the ordeal to update our friends. www.kevinstatus.blogspot.com/ As I write this update, I realize that the story could have been so different. The first responders also told us that the initial estimate for deaths was about 75 and the expectation of pulling out the seven trapped in the commons area was about 5%. Yet, on that night they pulled over 200 students out of the ruble and I am blessed to report that NOT ONE STUDENT died that day. We are very thankful to the first responders and students who literally removed the building piece by piece. You can see some incredible photos at the site also.
My son is now planning his life and we are excited to see what it will include. As we reflect back on this day, we know that we are forever blessed.
So here is your assignment for today (or whatever day you are reading this) – go hug your kids (or someone you love)!
One other assignment if you are a parent with college-age kids (but I guess it also applies to high-school): Begin to develop a list of your kid’s friends. Ask for their cell-phone numbers (you can swear to only use the info in an emergency). When the tornado hit in Jackson we very quickly realized that we did not have enough information about his friends – so we had no way to contact them to ask for their help in finding Kevin. It took us over two hours to confirm that he was in the “pile.” We now have more than 15 friends listed in our cell phone with numbers – to act as back-up just in case….
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Bob Furniss
As founder and President of Touchpoint Associates, Inc., Bob Furniss has more than 25 years of experience in the customer service field - assisting organizations to increase productivity and profits by bringing out the best in their people. He has shared his experience in the areas of leadership and service with some of the top companies in America - companies like FedEx, Corporate Express, DePaul University, Delta Airlines, Hanley Wood and more.
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