BONAIRE, Ga. — A Bonaire family lost their home to the storms that moved through Central Georgia Tuesday. Luckily, the mom and her two boys are OK, but she lost the memories her house once held.
Sydney Morstad has a 7-month-old son and a 3-and-a-half-year-old son.
The three were all home when the storm hit. Morstad's brother's house got destroyed and her grandfather's house had a pine tree go through it.
"I just heard a loud whistling and a huge bang. I immediately grabbed my head and ducked. I truly thought I was going to die," Morstad said.
Every day around 2 p.m., she and her two sons would take a nap, but this day would be a little more memorable than the others.
"I couldn't find my 7-month-old. I finally found him about three yards from where I was in the middle of all the debris," said Morstad.
Morstad found her infant face up, not crying. Her toddler appeared to have been thrown in the air on the other side of the home.
"In sheer panic of, 'Where is my 3-and-a-half-year-old,' and I'm screaming, screaming, and he's 'Mommy'-ing, 'mommy'-ing over here on the complete opposite side of us," Morstad said.
She says she's thankful that everyone made it out with only a few scrapes and bruises, but she lost something incredibly important to her: memories of her late husband.
"I didn't get to make the decision to get rid of things -- it just happened," Morstad said.
He died last July in a car accident while she was pregnant with their second son.
She says she didn't let many people in her home after he died because she wanted his belongings preserved. Now, those items and memories are scattered, many of them lost. Morstad says you never think something like this could happen to you, but then it does.
"I just have to be positive. God has taught me that if I sit back and cry, I know I have to be strong for my boys. I know Josh would want me to be the best mother and person for my family."
Morstad says she lost her two wedding bands and a ring with their anniversary date engraved on it. She has yet to find them.