By Rodrigo Avendano

Judy Reed sits in her home on a sunny Friday afternoon, remembering the day a year ago when the sky turned dark and dangerous.

"More good than bad has come out of this, really," she says as she stares out her high windows. Most people wouldn't describe Murfreesboro's Good Friday 2009 tornado as a positive development, but Reed looks on the bright side. Even after a severe back injury, loss of most of her family’s possessions and a long physical and mental recovery, she can look back at that bleak day and toward the future with optimism.

After last year’s storm, Reed was hospitalized with a broken back and several other broken bones. She has screws in her spine and collar bone. Back pain from her injury is something she deals with daily. Meanwhile, Reed also sometimes has difficulty dealing with loud noises or big crowds.

Before the tornado upended her life, Reed was in the real estate business for several years. The bad economy and housing market forced her to be laid off and her family had to live off her husband's income.

"We were a two-income family with a mortgage living off one income," said Reed. “We were able to pay off our credit card debt because we had equity in the home and got insurance money," explained Reed.

She said her attitudes about money and material possessions have completely changed since the storm.

"It's a lot easier not having a lot of stuff," says Reed.