Bridgett McCormick had finally started to feel like she was home.
She had been with her new family for a year. Her foster parents, Mike and Kim Phillips, had taken in Bridgett along with her brother, Ethan.
Mike and Kim had filled out the paperwork to adopt them both.
"We treat them no different than our own," Mike Phillips said. "Being foster parents, I think, is what God wants us to do."
Bridgett started to create a life for herself. She always had a smile on her face, lit up every room she was in and never hesitated to say what was on her mind, they said.
Most importantly, Mike Phillips said, Bridgett found a home in her youth church group.
Mia Butler, 15, said Bridgett was special. Mia was in Bridgett's youth church group, Youth Horizons at Sycamore Church of Christ in Cookeville, Tennessee, and never missed a meeting.
Mia said that when the youth pastor took attendance, Bridgett wouldn't just say, "Here."
"I'm always here," Bridgett would say.
"But now," Mia said, "She won't always be here."
Thirteen-year-old Bridgett McCormick died March 3 in an EF4 tornado that swept through Middle Tennessee and destroyed hundreds of homes, buildings, businesses and other properties overnight.
In Cookeville, 18 people died.
That night, Mike Phillips looked at his phone at 1:55 a.m. An alarm went off. At first he thought it was a statewide Amber Alert, but Kim told him it was a tornado warning. She put her phone down, and seconds later they heard the twister.
A few minutes later the windows were blown out in the house. Mike and Kim made their way to the living room, shouting at their six kids upstairs and downstairs to take cover, but it was too late. The tornado had come too quickly.
Ethan McCormick was sleeping downstairs. He remembers waking up to water dripping on his face. When he opened his eyes he saw sky instead of ceiling.
"The house literally exploded," Mike said. "The heart of that thing came through the front door."
Mike and Kim were trapped under furniture after the tornado passed. Ethan was able to get from underneath the rubble and found three of his siblings with the help of his brother, Cale.
Neighbors and Putnam County deputies were on the scene within minutes and moved in small groups around the rubble, looking for signs of life.
Under roof shingles and beams of wood, Ethan saw Bridgett's hand.
Ethan was shocked at first, then it all hit him at once.
Sgt. Jacob Byrd with the Cookeville Police Department was with Ethan when Bridgett was found. Byrd quickly carried Bridgett's body away from the wreckage and out to the end of the road to the nearest ambulance.
"We need to focus on the positive," Mia said. "The positive is she isn't scared anymore, or in pain. She's happy up in Heaven, and one day we'll get to see her."
(Photos and video: Cookeville residents, volunteers come together after Tuesday's tornado)
On Tuesday afternoon, hundreds of people gathered at Sycamore Church of Christ to honor Bridgett's life.
Friends, family and neighbors from all over the community paid their respects to a young girl gone too soon.
Ethan said the response has been heartwarming.
"It's been rough," he said. "I lost my sister. She was my best friend."
Ethan said his sister always had a smile on her face. He'll miss her sassiness the most, how she refused to be anything other than herself. He'll also miss going up to her room and lying in her bed just to talk about how their day was.
Mike said it's been a tumultuous week for the entire family. But by the grace of God, he said, the rest of the family is alive to remember Bridgett, to honor her life and to carry her memories on.
"She was spunky, sassy, full of life, never mad at nobody," Mike said. "She was amazing."
Mike had introduced Bridgett to the church and raised her through faith, something she grew more passionate about with each passing day.
"She changed my life more than I ever changed hers," Mike said. "I can't even describe it. You just feel that love."
Mia said she'll remember how you always knew if Bridgett was in a room.
"You would always hear her," she said. "When I met her she had the biggest smile. She was so caring, always trying to help."
Bridgett came from a troubled home life, but she was finally starting to come alive in a new one.
"I just keep reminding myself that she's not gone," Mia said. "She just took the train before we could get on."
Contact Patrick Filbin at pfilbin@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476.