Amid the wreckage of a devastating tornado, I stood in the control room on May 22, 2011. My 13 years in radiology had exposed me to countless emergencies, but this was unlike anything I’d witnessed before. Joplin had been obliterated by an EF-5 tornado, and the trauma surgeons stood in silence, pagers piercing the air. Victims poured in, and the stories were haunting—families chased by the tornado, miraculous escapes, and agonizing deaths. The exhaustion was overwhelming, and as I left work that night, a traumatized bird outside my car became a symbol of my helplessness. I brought it home, offering comfort in a moment of despair.
This experience mirrors the tornado of parental alienation in our lives. Some emerge with minor scars, others endure a slow process, and some await reunions. Yet we all share the memory of the EF-5 Parental Alienation Tornado and the devastation it has wrought, leaving us yearning for restoration.