Judy Bodnar was prepared to die the night a tornado ripped up Cherokee Valley.
She even knew the time, shortly after 8:15 p.m., and place, a bathroom in her home on Greystone Drive.
Bodnar, two of her children, her boyfriend and a neighbor were gathered in the home's master bedroom watching non-stop updates on the storm's progress across the region.
"We were clicking back and forth between stations until a few minutes before the strike our screen went gray," she recalled.
Some of the group ventured out to see hail that was rattling the roof before they saw the approaching twister, ran back and all gathered in a half-bath Bodnar had piled with pillows earlier that evening.
"We got closer together, closer together as windows started popping out of the house," she said. "We said goodbye to each other - I love you Lindsay, I love you Joe - and were ready to die. I said a couple of prayers out loud as fast as I could."
Afterward, it was determined the tornado with its 175-plus mph winds had lifted the second story of the home about 12 inches into the air before dropping it back on the house.
"Honestly, from the point the windows were smashing until it was gone was really only about 30 seconds," Bodnar said.
After the storm passed Bodnar said she was terrified and did not want to leave but the sound of water spraying from broken pipes and the smell of leaking propane were strong persuaders.
Grabbing her purse, Bodnar said she and the others ran to a neighbor's house for shelter.
"It was panic for several hours," she said.
With no electricity or cellular telephone they were isolated in a devastated area.
"The only way we knew what was going on was by calling (on a landline) my boyfriend's father in Connecticut," she said. "He was tracking the storm and told us which direction it was safe to go."
Bodnar said daylight revealed her home, now condemned, shattered and her worldly possessions scattered by the howling wind.
Three bulletin boards covered with medals, ribbons and awards won by her three children had simply disappeared, along with trophies won as members of the Ringgold Tiger Sharks swim team.
"That room was gone," Bodnar said.
But some of its treasures are being found, though a little worse for wear.
"My daughter was walking in a field near Cherokee Valley Road and found a few trophies and we've found six or seven ribbons in our creek," Bodnar said.
Some mementos are being returned from further afield.
A woman living in Madisonville, Tenn., used Facebook to contact the Tiger Sharks Web page to write about finding one of Joe's blue ribbons and a medal.
The medal is being mailed back from Madisonville and will be cherished, Bodnar said. Other things - tax returns and receipts - would be welcome, others not so much, she said.
"A person in Newport, Tenn., called my office to tell me she'd found one of my old check stubs," Bodnar said. "I told her to shred it."