Aunt Toot's Tornado

My Aunt Toots (of Danny's pie baking fame) and Uncle Ken lived on a farm in Kansas. It was somewhere near the Wamego or Manhattan area.They had three kids, a girl my age named Debbie, a girl Michelle's age and I can't remember her name right now, and a smaller boy named Eddie.

Kansas is in the tornado belt of the U.S. They have always had more than their share of tornadoes. I think one of the reasons is that the terrain is so flat, there is nothing to stop or divert them.

One summer when Uncle Ken was not home, there was a tornado headed right toward their farm. Aunt Toots took the three children (real small at the time) to the basement for safety. They all huddled under a small dining room table in the corner of the basement. The tornado hit their place head on and completely wiped their farm away. Everything was gone except for a little rubble left behind. Even the big, heavy farm machinery was gone--tractors, combines, cultivaters ect. The barn and silo were gone.

Aunt Toots and the little kids came through it all just fine. There was not a scratch on one of them. Aunt Toots was looking around to find anything that might be salvagable. The only thing she found, lying on a pile of rubble, was the white christening gown that all three of her babies had worn to be baptized in. It was as clean as the day she bought it and not a rip or any damage to it at all. God was certainly looking after and protecting them that day.

Imagine how Uncle Ken felt that day on his way home and seeing his farm was completely wiped out, hoping and praying that his wife and kids were there somewhere and safe.