Looking at the beautiful hardwood floors of his family’s new house, it’s difficult to believe Hayden Bilyeu’s Tedder Boulevard home was ripped apart one year ago.
On Good Friday 2009, Bilyeu, a freshman at Siegel High School, awoke looking forward to a relaxing day off of school. After learning that his scheduled track meet was canceled due to weather, Hayden spent time on the computer and talking to friends, but suddenly a call was abruptly interrupted.
Hearing hail begin to fall, Hayden went outside to check the sky. He saw a tornado hovering several houses away and it was headed in his direction. He quickly took in his surroundings and evaluated his options and as he did so a young female passerby jumped out of her car.
“I saw her running through our front yard,” Hayden remembered. “She was running into the path of the tornado.”
Hayden ran to her and led her inside the house. After placing the young lady in his parent’s bathtub, he took Spark, the family dog, and reclined in his own bathtub.
A split second later the awful noise of roof and wall being ripped away filled the house. Hayden clutched the faucet in a death grip and waited for the monster to move away.
Meanwhile, at Middle Tennessee Medical Center, his mother, Rhonda Bilyeu, kept getting a busy signal when she called her son. As more help arrived at the hospital Rhonda headed out into the storm. Traffic was gridlocked. She continued to call Hayden and finally reached him, he told her that their windows had been blown out but he was okay. She was relieved but then turned onto Tedder Boulevard.
“It was like a war zone,” Rhonda says, pushing her hair back from her warm brown eyes.
“It looked like bombs had been set in the middle of people’s homes.”
Rhonda parked the car and ran toward Hayden. They met halfway and hugged.
“I laughed when I looked at the house,” Rhonda smiles at the irony of the moment. “I asked Hayden if he’d noticed the roof was missing.”
The 14-year-old had not.
Rhonda received a call from a co-worker asking what could be done to help, she asked for some boxes and in turn her entire department came out to help. People worked through the night to grab everything they could before four inches of standing water ruined beloved furniture and belongings.
Though a large ceramic rooster was flung from the kitchen into the hallway and survived without a scratch, other things were lost. Those items are of little consequence because no one was hurt, she said.
“No matter what happens in life,” Rhonda explains, “the important thing is people”
The Bilyeus spent six months away from their home of 22 years and although they have mostly recovered, they have yet to pick out curtains.
“I’m so thankful for the incredible grace of the people that came to help,” Rhonda said. “It’s starting to feel like a year.”