Thirty years ago today Mt. St. Helens erupted. I was 9 (almost 10) at the time, the same age as our daughter Aubrey. This morning at breakfast we talked about the eruption and I shared my my memories of that day with the kids. I decided that I should document my memories for our family history.
Remember that all this is from my perspective at the time, as a a not-quite-10-year-old 4th grader.
The adults had been talking about Mt. St. Helens for months as the mountain was showing abnormal signs of activity. I think we in Moses Lake, WA were interested in it, but never thought it would impact us, hundreds of miles away. I had never personally seen this volcano, and it certainly didn't feel real to me.
Sunday morning, May 18th, 1980, I was ready for church early. I walked outside before the rest of the family. I stood on a pile of dirt in our front yard and looked at the strange purple clouds in the sky. Later I learned that these clouds held ash from the eruption.
Part way through Sacrament Meeting someone interrupted the services with the news that Mt. St. Helens had erupted and clouds of ash had traveled to Eastern Washington. When I ran to the foyer and looked outside I realized that it was pitch dark outside and it was only around 12:30 p.m. There was controlled panic everywhere - I remember running into the bathroom to get wet paper towels to put over our faces so that we wouldn't breathe the ash when we walked outside.
It was very eerie - outside it looked like a snowstorm at midnight. But the white stuff wasn't snow and it was the middle of the day. The short drive home from the church house took a very, very long time as the ash messed up the air filters of vehicles. When we finally were home, I remember feeling a mix of fear and excitement.
The coming days and months were challenging. The ash piled high, threatening to collapse roofs and killing vegetation. The day after the eruption my Dad and I rode our bikes a few miles to the grocery store to try to get milk. Many of the shelves at the grocery store had been emptied by nervous customers. No one knew how long our town would be affected by the ash. Unlike a big snowstorm, this greyish-white stuff didn't melt. The novelty of playing in the ash wore off quickly. School was canceled for the rest of the year. This must have been a terrible headache for the adults. From my point of view, I was also disappointed - I liked school, and I had worked hard on a report presentation for Monday, May 19th. Instead, school came to an abrupt end and the town of Moses Lake (and many surrounding towns) spent months and years digging out from the mess.
Funny how my life was impacted by a volcano I had never seen, and now that same volcano is visible outside my bedroom window. It has been interesting to read the reports in the local paper, memories of people who lived in the Vancouver area 30 years ago. The residents of Vancouver at that time could see the volcano explode, but the eruption and ash blew to the east, so they were impacted very little.
A lesson that has always stuck with me from the experience of Mt. St. Helens erupting is this: life as we know it can change in an instant. Sometimes we get warnings ahead of time, and sometimes it takes us by surprise. Afterward, our focus quickly shifts from all the normal busy things we usually spend our time on to the bare essentials, which are family, safety, and finding peace inside to deal with challenging times.
One more interesting lesson I didn't learn until this last year. We were visiting family in Moses Lake and my uncle explained how the ash, which was initially devastating, was a boon for agriculture in the area. It enriched the soil, and over the coming many years the crop yields were better. Isn't that like life? The very thing which is weighing heavily on us, crushing us, stopping our life in its tracks, may someday be what makes our life richer and more abundant.
Once a year I am lucky to get to spend time with my wonderful sisters and Mom. I cherish this time, and feel privileged to be blessed with relationships with such amazing women.
How nerdy is this? We bought the same dress, different colors, and then modeled it around the condo while Mom took pictures. We thought we were so cool. The pictures and video show a different story . . .
We spent an inordinate amount of time each morning getting ready and talking. I think this was especially fun because it is so different from the way we usually live our lives as moms (get ready in 5 minutes, out the door, never look in the mirror the rest of the day).
This is Kara dancing, which she does a lot. Always with a frankly frightening intense look on her face. 
My beautiful Mom.
Other than relaxing, we got pedicures, shopped, watched DVDs, enjoyed sunshine, and ate great food. Most of all, we talked and talked and talked. Ali and I (who shared a room) talked until the wee hours of the morning almost every night. At the end of this trip I felt truly emotionally filled. I look forward to next year's adventure!
