A tornado turned our life upside down. I chose to laugh

It's moving day, and my family is coming back home.

It's been a year since atornado made this place "unlivable." I use quotes because it was technically livable if you don't mind sharing a room with a family of squirrels.

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On Sept. 21, 2018,I got a tornado warning on my phone. I thought, "Ottawa doesn't get tornadoes! Surely the weather guy is mistaken."

I also ignored the second and third warnings andcontinued to sit in the living room with the kids, eating apizza.

Suddenly, my neighbour's pool lands in our yard.

That's when panic set in.I grabbed my favourite kidand we all headed to the basement.

The roof flies off, the kids'swing set disappears but they don't care. They're excited about their new pool. Finders keepers.

The whole thing lasted about 20 seconds. When we finally popped our heads up, we weresurprised at how bright it was.

That's because for the first time in decades, there were no trees blocking the sunlight. Part of the allure of moving to the Arlington Woods neighbourhood was the fact that I'd never have tospend a dime on window shades.

Maybe we should rename the neighborhood "Arlington Stumps."

Tears won't fix things

That evening, we packed our bags and headed to my parents'place. After a restless night, wewent back to have a fresh look at the damage.

There was no road access, as both trees and emergency crews covered the streets. Walking through ourneighborhood, we feltit was nearly unrecognizable.

So many emotions raced through me. My body didn't quite know how to express them, so I just laughed. Tears won't take the refrigerator off my Jeep, after all. That's when I took out my phone and started filming the damage with some "comedic" commentary.

I put it on YouTube and shared it with a fewneighbours. Little did Iknow, it would get passed around, andin a few days wouldhit over 10,000 views.

Resiliency is a word that often comes up when people describe my family's situation.People ask, "How wereyou able to find humour in such a tragic circumstance?"

At the time, I didn'tknow.

I was under the assumption that something was wrong with me, and I'd eventually needexpensive therapy.

Then I realized I had a choice. I could let the stress of the tornado take over my emotional wellbeing, or I could continue channeling itinto something positive.

Coping mechanism

I've been an entertainer for almost 20 years. As a songwriter and standup comedian, anythinggood or bad that'sever happened in my life got put into a song or turnedinto a joke.

It's unknowingly how I've dealt with adversity my entire adult life. It took surviving a natural disaster for me to realize to what extent creativity could be my coping mechanism.

And it's how I'll survive moving back home again to a neighbourhood that doesn't look the same.

Tricking my brain

Don't get me wrong:it's great to be back. But it's also strange looking at a vacant lot across the street where there used to be a house.

When the wind picks up, or there'sa thunderstorm, we need to put noise-cancelling headphones on my seven-year-old. I don't know how long it takes to overcome PTSD in kids, but we're working onit.

I feel the need to put on a brave face for them. But I also find that acting resilient for my children tricks my brain into thinking I'm really who I'mpretending to be another "self-discovered" coping mechanism I wish they'd taught us in school.

Until the tornado,the only adversity I'd had to overcome was thetime a lady stole my bike in spin class. This experience has taught me so much about myself, about human nature, and we've all become stronger as a result.

The neighborhood will never be the same, but we're excited to be a part of the next chapter ofArlington Woods/Stumps.

I also want to apologize to the weather guy. Next time I see a severe weather alert, I'll take itseriously.

Rory Gardiner is an Ottawa musician, comedian and speakerwho's turned his tornado experiences into a TEDx talk on resilience called "Finding the Funny when Disaster Strikes."