A tornado turned our life upside down. I chose to laugh
Rory Gardiner | Posted: September 21, 2019 8:00 AM | Last Updated: September 21, 2019
Comedian Rory Gardiner writes about resilience as his family moves back home
It's moving day, and my family is coming back home.
It's been a year since a tornado made this place "unlivable." I use quotes because it was technically livable – if you don't mind sharing a room with a family of squirrels.
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On Sept. 21, 2018, I got a tornado warning on my phone. I thought, "Ottawa doesn't get tornadoes! Surely the weather guy is mistaken."
I also ignored the second and third warnings and continued to sit in the living room with the kids, eating a pizza.
Suddenly, my neighbour's pool lands in our yard.
That's when panic set in. I grabbed my favourite kid and we all headed to the basement.
The roof flies off, the kids' swing set disappears — but they don't care. They're excited about their new pool. Finders keepers.
The whole thing lasted about 20 seconds. When we finally popped our heads up, we were surprised at how bright it was.
That's because for the first time in decades, there were no trees blocking the sunlight. Part of the allure of moving to the Arlington Woods neighbourhood was the fact that I'd never have to spend a dime on window shades.
Maybe we should rename the neighborhood "Arlington Stumps."
Tears won't fix things
That evening, we packed our bags and headed to my parents' place. After a restless night, we went back to have a fresh look at the damage.
There was no road access, as both trees and emergency crews covered the streets. Walking through our neighborhood, we felt it was nearly unrecognizable.
So many emotions raced through me. My body didn't quite know how to express them, so I just laughed. Tears won't take the refrigerator off my Jeep, after all. That's when I took out my phone and started filming the damage with some "comedic" commentary.
I put it on YouTube and shared it with a few neighbours. Little did I know, it would get passed around, and in a few days would hit over 10,000 views.
Resiliency is a word that often comes up when people describe my family's situation. People ask, "How were you able to find humour in such a tragic circumstance?"
At the time, I didn't know.
I was under the assumption that something was wrong with me, and I'd eventually need expensive therapy.
Then I realized I had a choice. I could let the stress of the tornado take over my emotional wellbeing, or I could continue channeling it into something positive.
Coping mechanism
I've been an entertainer for almost 20 years. As a songwriter and standup comedian, anything good or bad that's ever happened in my life got put into a song or turned into a joke.
It's unknowingly how I've dealt with adversity my entire adult life. It took surviving a natural disaster for me to realize to what extent creativity could be my coping mechanism.
And it's how I'll survive moving back home again to a neighbourhood that doesn't look the same.
Tricking my brain
Don't get me wrong: it's great to be back. But it's also strange looking at a vacant lot across the street where there used to be a house.
When the wind picks up, or there's a thunderstorm, we need to put noise-cancelling headphones on my seven-year-old. I don't know how long it takes to overcome PTSD in kids, but we're working on it.
I feel the need to put on a brave face for them. But I also find that acting resilient for my children tricks my brain into thinking I'm really who I'm pretending to be — another "self-discovered" coping mechanism I wish they'd taught us in school.
Until the tornado, the only adversity I'd had to overcome was the time a lady stole my bike in spin class. This experience has taught me so much about myself, about human nature, and we've all become stronger as a result.
The neighborhood will never be the same, but we're excited to be a part of the next chapter of Arlington Woods/Stumps.
I also want to apologize to the weather guy. Next time I see a severe weather alert, I'll take it seriously.
Rory Gardiner is an Ottawa musician, comedian and speaker who's turned his tornado experiences into a TEDx talk on resilience called "Finding the Funny when Disaster Strikes."