From the Editor

ON THE COVER

For the Love of the Game

Edgar Olmos pitched for minor and Major League Baseball teams before starting to coach through Blessed Baseball in Chelsea. Photo by Keith McCoy Design by Connor Bucy SSpring is at its best as I write this, with bright, sunny rays breaking through crisp air, but I can’t help but think back to that day in late March when the season showed its ugliest side. And I’m not talking about pollen. Like many of you, I was glued to a screen just after lunch on March 25 as James Spann spoke with alarm about polygons and paths. Sure, I’d watched Spann guide me through every severe Alabama storm between the time he talked to my school when I was in fourth grade and now, but never before had he told me a tornado was heading straight toward my parents’ house off Highway 280, and toward his own home where his wife was. It was beyond eerie watching from outside the polygon and not knowing what was really happening on the ground. Thankfully my parents’ neighborhood was spared, but I quickly learned how many around them were not. Majestic green trees I’d long admired as I drove up Double Oak Mountain had pummeled—and sometimes flattened—homes I’d driven past to babysit and visit friends growing up. Similar damage stretched from Helena up to Shoal Creek, and later parts of Columbiana and Calera suffered a similar fate. It makes me sick thinking back to the images of destruction that are now seared in my mind from the moments they’d popped up in social media feeds as my colleagues at our sister publication the Shelby County Reporter posted them. But then with cleanup the reminder of just how strong community shows itself to be in the literal storms of life. We share some of your stories about that on our The Question answers on page 6, and I know there are countless more out there. We also share a poem, “The Unshaken Pot,” by Eagle Point resident Rej Vedula written after the storm on page 9. Most of this issue was already complete when the tornadoes came through, so in some ways it feels weird to share our usual collection of what I call “pretty, happy” stories with you in the wake of such devastation. But look closer at them, and you’ll read of the struggles that accompany the triumphs for people like Major League Baseball player Edgar Olmos, who is now a coach in Chelsea. And amidst the tragedy around us, beauty still shines bright like spring sunshine in homes and businesses around us, and that’s just what you’ll find in the pages ahead. As always, thanks for reading, and I always love to hear your ideas for stories we should cover in future issues!

madoline.markham@shelbyliving.com