Joplin

3 March 2013

Jim and Mona (above) invited us to attend church with them this morning, so that was an offer we couldn’t refuse.  It was a lovely service and good time of fellowship, as I met a second cousin-once removed on my dad’s dad’s side of the family.  All this time Jim and Mona (from my dad’s mom’s side) had no idea she was related to me, so it thrilled them to know they have a loose connection with this friend of theirs in church.  She was sweet as pie and played the piano like a pro.  She was very excited to meet me and fill me in on what’s happened with the old homeplace that the Englands settled many moons ago.  I was relieved to hear all that property, where my granddaddy had his moonshine still, is still in the family.  My roots run deep in these parts and my family is legendary.  Yee-haw.

After church we had to say our goodbyes to Jim and Mona.  They were just sick we couldn’t stay on another day or two.  Always leave ‘em wantin’ more, is my motto, but it sure is nice to actually have family that WANT to spend time with me!  Such a rare thing in my life.  They clicked with Kaleb right away so it’s sad we don’t live closer.  But now that we’ve been to Cassville, Kaleb has been to all the childhood homes of all his grandparents, so that’s something not everyone can say.

We headed north out of town and stopped in Joplin to meet up with some of my dad’s other cousins that we’ve met on previous trips to Joplin.  They too were thrilled we stopped in for a visit.  Cousin Ruth is soon 80 years old (2nd from left) and I haven’t seen her in 20 years and she hasn’t aged a day.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  She invited over her two sisters and we got all caught up on what’s happening with the family members and how everyone survived the tornado.  They are a very close-knit family so it’s good none of them got hurt or lost their house or they would have all felt that pain.  As it was, listening to the stories was more than a person could bear to hear, even not knowing any of those involved.

They drove us around block after block of houses that are no more – including the block I remember so well of where their mother lived (it was too dark for photos).  The house was destroyed and every tree within a mile was gone.  So many parts of Joplin are still bare but man parts are brand new including the Walmart where we are for the night.  Walls fell down and killed several people both at Walmart and Home Depot.  In total over 160 were killed but many more died later from a fungus that got in their lungs from actually being in the tornado and being thrown about.  They survived the whirlwind but not the aftermath, as the excessive air pressure lodged things in lungs that wouldn’t come out.  Eeew.

Story after story was told of parents going to shut the door and the wind just sucking children out into the tornado. One guy they knew held on to his son as the wind pulled him up through the sunroof of the car.  He permanently damaged his shoulder from trying to keep hold of his son, who just graduated from high school that day, but the tornado took the kid anyway.  Too many parents were found dead, clutching their children, as debris fell on top of them and killed them all.  It was hard to believe.  And then to drive around and just see block after block of an almost moonscape type setting where the rebuilding has yet to be done, was downright depressing.  But the cousins said the town rallied around everyone, pulled together and is stronger for it.  Even in the midst of it all, God was there.

One local eye doctor, who treated many patients in the aftermath, wrote a book about the stories he heard of one after another saying someone “in white clothes” was there to help them, guiding them out to safety, telling them they would be OK or actually in one case, holding up a wall so they could get out.  No one knew who these people were at the time, but in retrospect, they believe they certainly were angles in their midst. That’s the kind of thing the news doesn’t exactly cover.

So it was an exciting afternoon of hearing first hand reports of the largest tornado, some even think Category 6, when the scale only goes to 5, that’s ever touched down in America.  Then all their husbands joined us and we went out to pizza.  Now, THAT’S entertainment.

The cousins told us which homeless shelter to go to tomorrow for our volunteer day here in Joplin.  I was hoping to work for three days, but after checking the weather report, if we head west tomorrow night we should be able to outrun some of the snowstorms in the forecast.  I’m sure angels will continue watching over us, too, as we make our way back home.  It was a good day.