GARLAND (WBAP/KLIF News) – It’s been a year since a series of tornadoes tore through Garland, Mesquite and Rowlett the day after Christmas in 2015.
Eleven people were killed and hundreds of homes were destroyed.
Jessica Cadick’s family lost everything they owned and they’re relieved that they have finally moved back into their Garland home.
To keep her spirits up, Cadick said she reminded herself that what she lost was material.
“Keeping that in mind. Remembering that the things that are truly irreplaceable are right there with you still is the biggest thing that anybody can do in any kind of traumatic situation in which they’re suffering the loss of a home,” she said.
It’s the type of trauma that Cadick said stays with you. “The impact of having your home taken away from you unexpectedly is huge. It runs more emotional than people would think because we have these homes we go to with the people that we love,” she said.
Cradick said she’ll never forget when she and her family learned that their home had been destroyed. She said at the time they had very little money and a lot of broken dreams.
“It’s been an emotional roller coaster for me because your whole life is picked up, similar to your house, and thrown out without any kind of warning or notice,” she said.
A year later, their a finally looking forward to Christmas.
“It’s exciting. It’s a happy thing. We’re actually going to celebrate the tornado and of course recognize the lives lost. We get to come back to the lives we had before this in an indirect way,” said Cadick.
She and her family are planning on attending a tornado remembrance ceremony the City of Garland is hosting.
It’s being held on December 26th at Schrade Bluebonnet Park at 4 p.m.
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