Joplin Tornado

(Written one year after the catastrophic tornado)

One year ago at this moment we were driving west toward Joplin, Missouri.  Our son-in-law, Grant, was watching reports on the storms being generated in southeast Kansas and giving us regular updates.  We stopped for a sandwich about 4, then tried to figure out what would be the best thing to do in light of the storms headed toward us.  At 5:41 pm we were in the bay of a self-serve car wash on 7th Street in Joplin.  It provided protection as the storm whipped and rocked the car like it was a toy.  The storm blew by, then the tornado set down about half mile past our safe harbor.  We learned later that we were 1.8 miles from the hospital that was extensively damaged.  Ten minutes or so later, the sky cleared and the sun came out.  We ventured out of the wash bay and started west toward the Kansas state line and home.  Then we started hearing the first reports on the radio and began to realize how very close we were to the destruction.  May God bless the residents of Joplin on this day when memories are vivid.