No, I am not writing about recent storms in Texas, although they may have been the catalyst for my remembering past events.
I had gone to sleep as usual, and as usual, I woke up before my first wife came to bed. Repositioning my body and placing the pillows in their proper place, I found that sleep was eluding me. Then a memory came to mind. This memory was in some ways a pleasant memory while at the same time unpleasant.
Back in 1970, I was employed at GESCO also known as, General Electric Supply Company. I worked for GESCO a little over three years, I was the warehouse person, counter sales, inventory specialist and janitor. Another way to look at it, I did everything the manager and outside sales person did not want to do.
Truth be known, the work I had done, or maybe I should say the things I learned at GESCO, was one of the two main reasons, I was hired at Hardware Wholesalers Inc. “HWI”. The second, reason and possibly the most important reason I was hired, I was almost debt free! The only payment we had was for our home.
I still remember talking with the third interviewer, and he asked several times whether I had a car payment or any other payments to which I answered honestly, no!
Donna and I purchased a brand new mobile home in 1970, and we had it delivered to a trailer park in Scott City, Mo.
January 28th, 1971, Donna and I received our first bundle of boy joy, Patrick.
June 14th, 1971, I went to work at HWI. They wanted me to start June 1st, but I was in the National Guards, I could not start on the first, as we would be at summer training the first two weeks of June.
Now that you have the background, we can get to the story.
I don’t know the exact date but it was a night in December, I know that because we had the Christmas tree up. One does not normally think of tornados occurring in December but they do.
For some reason we were unaware of the bad weather forecast, and we were not considering the need to take shelter. It was raining and kind of windy but we weren’t yet concerned.
We received a call from Donna’s mother, informing us of the possibility of severe storms. That is when we took a look outside and decided the weather was bad enough that we should get some supplies together for Patrick, and go to Donna’s Mom’s home.
By the time we had gathered the diaper bag and other supplies, the wind was roaring and the rain was pouring. We found ourselves standing at the front door of the trailer. We had wrapped Patrick up in a blanket to protect him from the rain and wind. I had the door knob in one hand and the car keys in the other with a diaper bag over my shoulder, but we weren’t going anywhere, at least not yet.
It was raining super hard and the wind was blowing at what I believe was hurricane force. Our trailer house was on blocks, and I thought the wind might blow it over. Our car was parked just a few feet away, but the wind and rain was too much, we could not safely step out the door and down the three steps to get to the car. What a conundrum, we didn’t think it was safe to stay inside, it wasn’t safe to go outside!
As I am standing there, with the doorknob in my hand, Donna had Patrick (he was not quite a year old) in her arms. I said, “If it lets up even a little, we will make a run for the car”. Our intent was to get out of the trailer and go to a safer location at Donna’s mom’s house.
Donna’s mother lived out in the country, about a mile away. Her mom’s house did not have a basement, but they did have a cellar, which could be used to store canned goods and also used as a storm cellar.
The trailer was shaking from the wind, and we could hear what we now know is the unmistakable sound of the tornado, but it was not safe to step out of the door.
All of a sudden, and I mean it was almost instantaneous, the wind and rain stopped. We quickly made our move to get to the car. Even though the wind and rain had stopped momentarily, the sound of the tornado was still there, very loud, and close.
The best way I can describe the sound of the tornado would be, the sound you would hear if there were two railroad tracks about 50 feet apart, and if you were standing between the tracks, with trains going past very fast on both tracks. That is close to the sound of a tornado.
As soon as we were inside the car the rain and wind started again, which caused me to believe the tornado had passed and we were now, “out of the path”.
We drove to Donna’s mom’s home and stayed the rest of the night.
Donna’s brother and I decided to drive into Scott City about sun rise to take a look around. Our trailer was still standing but there was all kinds of damage about two blocks away. Scott City is a railroad town and box cars were picked up and tossed around, some brick buildings and homes were destroyed. I don’t know the exact number, but there were people killed in that storm.
Once you have been in or near a tornado, you do not want to be in or near another!
Now you may understand why, “This memory was in some ways a pleasant memory, while at the same time unpleasant.” It was unpleasant due to the damage and deaths, but it was pleasant because Donna, Patrick and I along with our families, were not hurt.
Thanks for reading this, and please, if you go out on amateur night, do not drink and drive!
Have a happy new year’s eve, but do not drink and drive!
Don Ford
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