As The Storm Clouds Gather: A Personal Story Part 8 The Final Entry

Rockfield, Indiana

Carroll County

May 16,1968

The Final Entry

“The noise got louder and was drowning out what the man was yelling at us.  I thought I heard him say not to cross the street. “Mom he is telling us not to cross the street!” Yes, that is what he is saying, but why? The answer came.”  

“A wall of water about 5 feet in height rolled down the street in front of us. It was a flash flood.  Totally disgusted, I slammed my fist into my other hand.”

I don’t know what the others were feeling. As I stood watching the madness of what was occurring unfold before us, I thought to myself, “I cannot go on.”  The lantern of what appeared to be our only safe haven was swaying just on the other side and now impossible to reach.

There was no other place to go.  We were out in the open and it was still so dark you could barely see if anyone was standing beside you. The whole town seemed to have disappeared. It was almost as if we were in a fog that had turned black.

We were wet, exhausted and on the verge of shock. And then I thought about what might happen to us if Mom went into shock. No, I decided I did not want to think about that. I knew the storm clouds were gathering again and we had to do something
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I looked at the water and realized that if we had been any closer we would have been carried away or if we had made it across we would have been as well. The one blessing of the night I realized is that we were standing on higher ground and when a flash of lightning occurred, it looked like a small lake between us and the swaying lantern.

Mom quietly said, “We have to cross” No one said a word.  She knew our silence meant she was facing an argument ahead. None of us could swim ...

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As The Storm Clouds Gather: A Personal Story Part 7

Rockfield, Indiana

Carroll County

May 16,1968

"I had heard Tina land on her feet as she jumped from the top bunk. I listened to her running footsteps as her shadow entered the hall and just as she made the turn she was suddenly gone. I did not want to tell my Mother but the storm was coming again and now we all had to find that house. I was afraid we were going to run out of time!"

"I walked up to my Mother and quietly said, “Mom”. I don’t think she heard me. “Mom” She stopped and looked at me. They all stopped to look at me. I hesitated. “Mom” I said again. I did not know how to begin. I was just getting ready to say it, and then bless her heart, “Here I am Mommy!” I heard Tina say."

It was one of the most wonderful moments of my life when Tina reappeared. The fact that we were all standing there together again, even in the midst of the chaos and destruction was, I felt one of the most monumental blessings that we would ever realize. But there was no time to be happy about the miracle of our reunion.

Mother Nature was not done. There was another round of storms marching towards us and the darkness was worse than a wet sheet clinging to us. We could barely see one another unless lightning streaked across the clouds and it seemed so close at times that I was afraid that a lightning bolt was going to be our real killer.

We all stood there waiting for some kind of answer as to what we should do. To me it looked like the whole town was gone. At 28, my Mother, I was sure she ...

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As The Storm Clouds Gather: A Personal Story

As I began to awake I knew something was wrong. My Mother standing over me, trying to get me to move in a voice filled with fear. The telephone was ringing, the bedroom door stood ajar with a single light being cast down the long hallway from the Living room. I felt my youngest sister lying beside me and my body was suddenly hot and sweaty from her being so close to me as she slept. Jennifer Lynn. In all of her childhood moments she never let me get to far from her sight. That night was no different. I sat up and looked at my Mother and calmly said “Oh” as if I had been expecting it.

I sat in bed looking at the light coming down the hallway. Then I heard the next to the youngest sister’s feet hit the floor as she jumped down from the top bunk in her bedroom. Glancing quickly, I saw the rest of my sisters and one of their friends standing huddled in a corner. Back to the door my eyes went and in horror I watched as everything went into slow motion while my Mother was reaching for the door in a desperate attempt to keep it open until the last one of us was in the bedroom. But Tina never made it.

I watched her shadow in the hallway disappear just before the bedroom door was jerked from my Mother’s hands and slammed shut. The lights went out but the phone kept up its eerily ringing for a few seconds longer.  Then that fear of complete silence crept in as we all waited in the dark for it to come take us. A heavy stillness hung in the air.

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