Every April 11 reminds me why I am grateful to be alive. It was sixty years ago, on April 11, 1965, when disaster struck. The day was a balmy Palm Sunday in Indiana. My mother was five months pregnant with me. Even though it was stormy, it was evening, and they were getting ready to go to church.
My grandparents lived about five miles southwest of my parents. My Uncle Preston was with them. As they were chatting, they suddenly felt things go deathly quiet. Uncle Preston rushed out to the mailbox. To the northwest, he saw the tornado. He ran back in and told everyone to get in the coal bin. He rushed to the phone to call my dad.
A Phone Call
My parents had lived in their house for less than a year. My uncle says he had no idea of their phone number and couldn’t recite it afterward. But by the grace of God, he remembered it and called Dad.
My parents were at the front door when the phone rang. Dad hesitated for a moment but decided to answer it anyway. After all, this was a time before voicemail and mobile phones. If you missed a call, you had no idea who was trying to reach you.
Dad answered the phone, and Uncle Preston told them to take cover. Mom and Dad got into a closet. They could hear the tornado approaching like a mighty freight train as they waited and prayed.
When it was over, they emerged from the house. Devastation was all around them, and a neighboring house was gone.
Today, the tornado they were spared from would be considered an EF-4. That one tornado killed twenty-eight people and injured over 100. It was one of the forty-seven tornadoes that killed 267 people in six states on that Palm Sunday.
You can read about the event at these sites:
- National Weather Service Indianapolis: April 11, 1965 Palm Sunday Tornadoes
- Zionsville Times Sentinel: Palm Sunday Tornado Disaster Recalled
- Indianapolis Star 2018 article
- A blog dedicated to the Palm Sunday Tornadoes
Aftermath
My parents lived to see another day, and four months later, I was born. I am thankful for my uncle’s quick reaction, for my parents’ wise choices and their faith, and for the grace God gave my family that day. Three generations of the Spear family could have been snuffed out that day. I am grateful to be alive today.
This day reminds me it was six years ago when we experienced Memorial Day Tornadoes. It was a series of tornadoes that affected Indiana as well as Ohio. This time, it was my wife and I taking cover when an EF-4 tornado passed south of us. It was a miracle no one was killed in this series of tornadoes. Once again, it is another reason I am grateful to be alive today.
Today, I am reminded how precious and fragile life can be and why I am grateful to be alive. Each era has challenges and tragedies, but we have faced crises before. I am just thankful for the life I have gotten to live and for one more day to live.
