(3/18/2019) - It was a quiet Monday morning at Durand's Village Quilters on M-71.
The power had just come back on and owners Shirley Brooks and Melody Florinki were ready to get back to work, something for a brief minute last Thursday they weren't sure would happen.
"We're standing there watching the clouds and another one kind of dips out the other way and went back up then all hell broke loose," said Florinki.
One of the four tornadoes that hit Mid-Michigan last week had hit right before their eyes and the two women immediately took shelter under a table.
"I think it happened so fast that we didn't have time to be afraid," said Florinki.
Florinki said the whole thing lasted only about a minute. And once it passed they looked outside.
"Afterwards when we really got shook up and startled looking around,” said Florinki. “And we just kind of hugged and cried and stood together and said wow…that could have been us."
Minor damage to their business, Village Quilters: a fallen tree, broken windows, roof damage and a missing sign - but all around them, destruction.
"How did this happen, you know? How did we come out of it so good when everything around us is just demolished," said Brooks.
Great Lakes Fabrication next door was destroyed, the roof of the building thrown hundreds of yards away and damage all over the property.
More of signs on destruction and roof damage on the houses across the street.
But just a few feet away from all the destruction, Village Quilters still stood.
"I feel very blessed,” said Brooks. “This is god's little acre right here and he had his hands in it."
And now, with power restored, Shirley and Melody are getting back to work finishing the quilt that Mother Nature forced them to take a break on.