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| Tornado In A Small Town by � celticcherokeemama This is a story I have heard many times while growing up. It was a big event in my grandmother�s life. I am not sure of the year, but I believe it was around 1942, when my grandmother was 14 years old. Grandma�s name is Louanna, and she has four younger sisters. At that time they lived in the country, in Oklahoma, in a farmhouse. The family was very poor, and once a week they all looked forward to a very special treat: on Saturday night, they would all load up in the horse and wagon, and take a train to Bartlesville, a larger town nearby. They would all get hamburgers, that cost $.5 each, and go shopping for things they needed for the farm. This particular Saturday, Louanna was grounded, because she had not attempted to pitch in with her share of the farm chores. She was not allowed to go with them on the weekly trip. Instead, she had to stay behind and wash dishes, while everyone else went on their way to have fun without her. As she was standing at the kitchen window, she could hear the chickens in the yard squawking, and making a big ruckus. Her first thought was that there was a fox in the chicken coup. So she walked outside to see what was the matter. As she did, she heard a deafening sound, as if a train were nearby. As she turned to look back towards the house, the house was not there. It was up in the air, spinning inside of a tornado. Suddenly the house just exploded, and debris flew everywhere, injuring the back of her leg. It happened that quickly, and she was in shock. If it hadn�t have been for the chickens she would have been inside that house. Shocked and dazed, she started limping down the dirt road toward town. She hadn�t made it too far, when neighbor�s in a horse and buggy found her. They had come to see what damage the tornado had done. They took her in to town to have her leg looked at by the doctor. Meanwhile, in Bartlesville, the word had got out about a tornado hitting in Dewey. The family jumped on the train, and headed home. When they arrived at the farm they were astonished, to say the least. Louanna was nowhere to be found. About that time, a friend of the family, who had heard about Louanna, told them what had happened, and that she was hurt badly, and was at the doctor�s office. She had a terrible gash, and still had a bad scar from the incident. That night they stayed with family. The next morning, they all went back to the farm to see if there was anything to be salvaged. They were all in disbelief that they had lost what little they had. As they walked through the remains of the farmyard, they could see a dress in the top of a tree; searched desperately for a watch that had been given to my Aunt Nellie as a graduation present-anything that could be salvaged, but were unsuccessful. Looters had taken most of the chickens, but the ones that remained had no feathers- they had been blown off by the tornado. Needless to say, it was a while before they recovered from losing everything, but they did with the help of friends and family. This experience has stayed with my grandmother for years. Every now and then, something will remind her, and she will tell this story, and every time I hear a part of the story I hadn�t heard before. Kelly |