Tornado strengthens bond between Polish exchange student and host family
By Patrick Talbot
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ENID, Oklahoma (KOCO) — One month after an EF-4 tornado destroyed the Gray Ridge neighborhood in Enid, a Polish exchange student and her host family are reflecting on the tragedy and the bond it forged between them.
“I just remember us just standing in the ruins of the kitchen. And just in the middle of all that getting rained on, and we just all hugged, and we’re just thankful to be there and thankful to be able to hug each other,” said Zofia Konczalska, a foreign exchange student from Poland.
Zofia rode out the tornado in the basement with her host family, Kurt and Ashlyn Young.
“We thought it was over. I said, ‘Girls, stay here. Let me go up and check.’ And I made it up the stairs, I got into the center part of my house, and I could still hear things hitting the house, so I turned around and raced back downstairs, and in my turning around, I saw something that I didn’t like seeing out the front window… there was nothing,” said Kurt Young, Ashlyn’s father.
Cyndi Young, Ashlyn’s mother, was not home when the tornado struck. She said it took hours before she could reunite with her family.
“I couldn’t get off base. It was locked down. And, you know, the whole nine yards. I didn’t see them until it was almost two in the morning before I actually saw them,” Cyndi said.
Zofia’s parents, who were in Poland at the time, woke up to a call from her at 3 a.m.
“There’s a difference of seven hours between Poland and here. So they got a phone call at 3 a.m., and just from Zofia’s voice, they already knew that something serious happened and something really bad happened,” said Grażyna Konczalska, Zofia’s mother.
Her father, Mariusz Konczalski, shared their limited knowledge of tornadoes.
“It was a very weird feeling because in Poland all we knew about tornadoes was from movies. So it was never something that we really thought that it would touch us since we don’t experience them in Poland,” Mariusz said.
Since the tornado, Zofia and the Youngs have grown closer, forming what she describes as a “real family.”
“I think most of all is just us really staying like a real family. Like, we did everything together. Like we’ve had to live in some temporary houses that we were all really close together, like we weren’t before. And, I mean, I feel like we just made the best out of, like, the worst,” Zofia said.
On Friday, Zofia and Ashlyn graduated from high school, with Zofia’s family traveling to Oklahoma to celebrate the occasion.
“Celebrating it all together here after this situation, it makes us realize what’s really important and just slowed us down a little bit from everyday things. You know, like the fast world that’s going on and just appreciate the time together that we have,” Grażyna said.
Zofia plans to attend college in South Carolina, while Ashlyn will attend the University of Central Oklahoma. Despite the distance, both are determined to maintain their friendship.
“I think we’ve both been dreading this day. Yeah, actually. But I think we’re going to for sure stay in touch forever. Because she’s not only my best friend, but my sister,” Zofia said.
“We’re not going to separate. That’s just not happening because I’ve never met somebody who’s always been there for me. And like, somebody I can always talk to about everything,” Ashlyn said.
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