VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Owning a home meant less about the house itself, and more about the memories Toni Cortellini made inside it.
“I always looked forward to having grandkids in my home," Cortellini told 13News Now.
“I loved having people over, I loved entertaining, bringing them into my home," she added.
Cortellini and her husband picked out the plot of land on Haversham Close near the Broad Bay more than 30 years ago, building their home and raising several kids and grandchildren since then.
Through three decades of memories living in Virginia Beach, she doesn’t remember anything quite like the April EF-3 tornado that ripped through the Lynnhaven River area of the city.
Now for her, there is a meaning behind every piece of broken brick and wood that now lies on the ground level of where her house once stood.
The EF-3 tornado’s four-mile path of destruction ripped roofing and broke windows in the Haversham Close corridor in Great Neck. According to NOAA, more than 100 homes were damaged resulting in millions of dollars of damage.
"It's painful to watch it. Standing there, getting rained on, furnishings and things we couldn’t get out," she said.
On Tuesday, demolition crews brought down several of the most severely damaged homes from the tornado's aftermath, including Cortellini's.
She said she can still see the light and optimism, despite the destruction. Cortellini tells 13News Now that the completion of the demolition of her home will allow her to move on with rebuilding it on the same plot of land she chose more than 30 years ago.
“I'm hoping it will start a healing toward clearing this and building another home, will make my heart feel better," she said.
And hopefully, new memories to replace the old ones laying on the ground level of Haversham Close.
“I can’t imagine going anyplace else.”