First off, you need to know, I am a North Country girl, born and bred on the Canadian border in the Northeast corner of New York State…land of mountains and lakes, cool summers from July to August, and double digit below zero winters from September to June. (Well, we might have had an Indian summer once or twice that kept the first snowfall at bay till October, but it was rare!) Nary a tornado one.
Now I live in Kansas. Toto. Red shoes. A Rainbow. TORNADOES! I’ve lived here in the land of Oz for over 20 years, and by the grace of God I have yet to see a tornado touch down in my little slice of the heartland. Furthermore, I am scared to death of the things, and hope to God I NEVER see one!
Now for my story:
A month ago I travelled to Keller, Texas to spend some time with Jerry, my pesky little brother whom I love dearly. Jerry’s fighting a heroic fight with cancer, and at the time was taking part in a targeted trial drug program which necessitated weekly trips to MD Anderson Clinic in Houston, Texas (just a short 4 ½ hour drive from his house). I decided to make the trip with him (three times if anyone is counting), but one of the trips will be forever etched in my mind.
Mind you, when Jerry is in a car, he is ALWAYS the driver, but for the first time in his life he acquiesced in the light of some discomfort he was experiencing. Jer is in the passenger seat and I am at the wheel. Just passing Dallas heading South on I-45 the sky is looking ominous.
“Hmmmm” Jerry says, “looks like we might be in for some weather.”
Oh, yay, just what I need. Albeit, Jerry was not driving, but believe me, he was “at the wheel” and making sure I maintained speed, was in the correct lane, didn’t get too close to the car next to me, yadayadayada…you get the idea.
Sure enough, the sky darkens, the wind whips up, and it starts to rain. Hmmm. Jerry’s really sitting up now, keeping his eyes on the road, or rather, telling ME to keep my eyes on the road, whilst he checks out the weather.
His chariot has one of those intelligent navigation systems, so he brings up the weather map and says “Ah, yes, looks like a tornado, some hail, pretty strong winds……. KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD JUDY, DON’T LOOK AT THE SCREEN!!!!!!!!”
Geez, I about jumped out of my skin, not to mention the fear that gripped me with the realization that I might be headed into the path of a tornado!!! Now it’s rain, hail, hellacious winds, all the other cars are pulling off the road, you can’t see five feet in front of you.
So I say “Jerry, maybe I’d better pull over and wait this out.”
“NO NO NO, KEEP DRIVING FOR GOD’S SAKE, THE HAIL WILL MAKE WORSE DAMAGE TO THE CAR IF WE’RE SITTING STILL!!!”
Okay, I say to myself, we’re more worried about the car than our lives?????? Well, here’s where I have to tell you how I really feel about this brother of mine----he is much smarter than me, and I’d trust him with my life, I love him that much. Soooo…on we went, and even when Jerry said “oh my God, look, there it is, the tornado, right over there to the east of us!” I steadfastly kept my eyes peeled on the road, mouth dry, knuckles white, praying the “Our Father” and asking God to make sure Jerry knew what he was doing!! (Besides, Jerry was still yelling at me to keep my eyes on the road!)
And, as all weather passes, so did this one. A little further on down the road the sky lightened, the road was dry, and I breathed a sigh of relief, and thought, “yup, bro was right…again.”
An hour later. Hmmmm. Jerry thinks it looks like some weather up ahead. Oh, it couldn’t be…could it??
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