Earthquake

Yesterday, at around 3 PM, there was an earthquake in West Java, Indonesia.

I was at home, with my family. My sister, my son and I just got home from running an errand. Hubby was napping after a sleepless night shift.
All of a sudden, the house was trembling. The walls were shaking to the left and to the right, as if going to fall down. Some stuffs even fell off the cupboards and walls.
I grabbed Darren, and shouted for Hubby with all my might.
We live on the 3rd floor, so we frantically rushed down the stairs. My sister and our helper was also running downstairs, out to the streets.

Outside, people were all over the street. Some were panicking, some were just numbed by shock.
The quake lasted for about a minute or so (who’s counting?).
Afterwards, when it seemed that it all had stopped, we looked at one another, and we just realised how my sister and Hubby were running bare foot. My sister had the chance to grab her purse and cellphone as she ran downstairs.
When the earthquake happened, I also had my purse right by our “escape route”, with some handy & valuable stuffs in it for sure. But although I passed right by it, I didn’t even think of grabbing it. The thought of getting some valuable possessions did cross my mind, but was instantly and subconsciously outweighed by the urge to make sure that my loved ones were safe.

I guess when it comes to an unexpected emergency, we only hold on to what’s TRULY important to us. Although possessions do matter, and much needed, when we face a life-and-death situations, we only hold on to our most precious possession: the PEOPLE that we love.