Our father passed away about four years ago due to COPD. Even though we weren’t close the last year or so before his death, I find myself, at times, wanting to call him to hear his voice.
On Good Friday, ten years ago, a tornado ripped through Murfreesboro, TN, and destroyed his house while he was asleep inside. My brother Chris called me and asked if I had heard the news. I hadn’t. He told me what had happened.
A few days later, I talked to our father on the phone. He told me that he had come home from work and the news said that Murfreesboro was under a Tornado Warning. He laughed and said that they got those warnings a lot but never had any tornadoes touched down. Exhausted, he went to bed, and when he woke up, he had been lifted through the roof of his house and then dropped. The fall broke a few ribs and he had bruises, but he was alive. He said that had he fallen to the left or right of the spot where he landed, he’d have been killed by the splintered lumber and nails.
His survival and the destruction of his house and those of his neighbors made the news. He was interviewed here: Murfreesboro TN Tornado Leonard Hilley
Every now and then, I go to this video (playback and sound aren’t great) to see him and hear his voice. In a lot of ways I wish we could have mended the bridge between us. I honestly tried several times, but …
Until next time ….
Sorry little Bro but what he has done for us he could never mend.
Yes, I know. Sad but true. I’ve been working on my memoir and yeah, I know.