Memories

Yesterday was the eighteen-year anniversay of the day my house was destroyed by an F-4 tornado that ripped through my hometown of Harrison, OH. June 2, 1990...a day that will be remembered forever by my family. I was 16 years old at the time, babysitting at a friend's home in Indiana. The tornado came at 11 pm, with no warning sirens and very little time to dive into the hallway (no basement in that little ranch). I had no idea our house was hit until I came home after midnight, driving past downed power lines and sheared-off trees, filled with dread as I rounded the bend to find what was left of the only home I had ever known. The roof was gone, the only thing left standing was my room and the bathroom and the mailbox, and I had no idea where my parents were. Talk about being terrified. After several scary hours of driving through the devastation (with my boyfriend at the time), my parents were still nowhere to be found; phone lines were down (no cell phones in 1990) and none of the shelters had heard anything about Bill and Carolyn Klenk. Eventually I returned to my friend's home where I had been, since that was the last place I had talked to my mom on the phone. It wasn't until after 8am the next day that I heard from my sister, saying she had found mom and dad and everyone was okay. I wasn't a believer at the time, but I know God had His arms wrapped around every member of my family that night. The only injury was to my dad's back; a sprain to an area of previous injury, and he was back on his feet within a week. Our house was a total loss...we rebuilt and moved back into a brand new, air-conditioned one four months later. At the time, we were shell-shocked, devastated, and a nervous wreck everytime even a hint of a storm was on the news. The rough weather of today brought back all these memories...although now I live in a house with a basement and a basket filled with emergency supplies, just in case. My mom has a photo album dedicated to our "tornado pictures", but I don't have any. I looked up these on the web, the best I could find. My heart goes out to all the people who are suffering through their losses after these last few tornadoes.

Pictures don't even do justice to the absolute devastation that followed this twister. And now I have to go, the sirens are going off again...man, I hate tornado season!