The Destruction of My Childhood Town

May 22, 2011, an EF 5 tornado hits Joplin, MO at 5:41 PM, was on the ground for something like 13 miles, over a half mile wide and completely destroyed the part of town where I grew up. 

***

May 20th ~ I had been talking to my sister, letting her know I'd come to Joplin to help her clean up her house, since she'd been so sick for the last 3 weeks.  I knew I was having a family gathering on Saturday, so instead, I told her I'd come down on Sunday.  Not a problem.  Well... except for the fact that I teach a toddler Sunday school class, and those little girls miss Miss Debbie so much when I'm not there.... so, I decided to stay home and teach those sweet girls.  And since I wouldn't be able to get to Joplin until the middle of the afternoon, I figured it wouldn't give me much good cleaning time, so I called my sister and told her I'd rather come down on Monday, so I'd have a full day of cleaning / organizing, and caring for her since she was so sick.  She said that would be fine, and instead of my coming down, she'd take Sunday afternoon and go visit her mother in law.  Set. 

Don & I decided to go to the movies that afternoon, which we haven't done in such a long while.  Pirates of the Caribbean.  Good.  When we came out, we had phone calls from Jory asking us if we knew if Chris was alright!  What?  A tornado???  OMGosh!!!  No way!!!  Then the next several hours were frantic with phone calls to Josh (Chris' son) and Chris' phone, which went straight to voicemail.  (Her phone was probably in Indiana by that time.)  We got home and turned on the news, and I couldn't believe my eyes....  The Finger of God touched my hometown in a dramatic way.

About 9 PM that night, we had confirmation that my sister was okay, as she had been on the other side of town.  Praising God for that.  My brother & sister in law were home, and fine.  My family had been spared.  Others had not.  Such a tragedy. 


My sister's house, view from the street.



My sister's house, view from the back.

Her son, Josh spent the first week, post-tornado helping her find precious momentos in the debris.  She found the flag her husband was buried with (military honors), she found his picture, his wedding ring, she found our mother's wedding dishes all still intact with the exception of 2 cup handles, and she found 2 of her much-needed medications! 

I came down this week to lend a hand, however I might.  We were able to salvage some items from her storage unit on Wednesday.  While I searched, she went to run an errand. I was alone in the storage unit area, hauling out things that she'd want to keep.  The heat was overwhelming.  The destruction all around me was devastating.  At one point, I found a chair in someone else's unit, and brought it by Chris' pile of stuff, and was sitting there looking all around me.  Everywhere I could see was devastation, as if a bomb went off.  A really BIG bomb.  Apartments behind me - gone.  Trees stripped of their bark & limbs torn off.  I started noticing the eerie quiet all around me, with the exception of the creeking of metal as the wind blew it.  No birds.  No cars.  Complete eerie quiet.  Almost as what I imagine the end of civilization would be.  No words can really describe it. 

***
Some pictures of my childhood places.

Irving Grade School

St. John's Hospital, where I spent my 16th birthday recovering from a bicycle crash.

Blendville Christian Church, where I was married back in 1980. 

The Elks Lodge, where we had our wedding reception.

So, I guess I can really say, teaching a toddler Sunday school class at First Church of the Nazarene REALLY CAN save your life! 

***
And that's my life so far...