A Glimmer of Hope in Joplin.....

As related to me this morning, by an elderly gentleman wearing overalls, who just lost his house and everything that ever came to him in his life, in the tornado:
A woman and her small daughter were in their home when the tornado struck. As the house began to fly apart, the woman lost her grip on the little girl, and in the chaos that followed was unable to find her again. Once the storm was over she began to search in the rubble for the child. No luck at all. Disheartened and homeless, she finally gave up and departed for Springfield, Missouri to stay with family. Fliers and stories with the little girl’s name were posted on the news, local radio and TV. No luck.
Until today. On a local radio show, a caller asked the host for the mother’s contact info, because she had found a small child with the little girl’s name written across the front of her little shirt. The radio host said he could not give out that information but that he would put the two women in touch with each other. He did, and as related to me by the elderly man in the overalls who just lost his house and everything that had any meaning to him in his life, the caller did indeed have the little girl, in good health and who told the mother to stay right where she was, Her baby was on her way to her in 90 minutes or less. Probably by the time this is finished being written the two will be reunited. The old man, who also just suffered a stroke two days before the tornado took away everything except his health, made this weary traveller cry like a baby.
There have already been some funerals for the dead, and many more in the days to come. Some people are still missing, about one hundred and fifty, many children have not been reunited with their parents,who may or may not be alive.
Yesterday, at the site of the OP High School, destroyed while the students were at their commencement exercises, held at the local college (luckily), a pair of ministers were surveying the destruction of their church, located next to the school. All that remained of that building of worship and hope was the entrance, made of stone, and the doors, which were open, inviting people in to….nothing. I made a joking comment to them that the church was still open, and they laughed and said that indeed, they were holding services this Sunday morning right there in the parking lot. Then they showed me something that still boggles my mind—a baseball bat sized piece of wood, pointed, driven through solid concrete, with the sharp end still sticking out from one side. I can only hope that someone finds a way to leave it there, as testimony to the power of nature, and to never forget what happened here, as if any one can, or will.
Joplin is going about its business. I saw joggers running, people washing their cars, stuffing their faces at McDonald’s. All of the mundane things that we do every single day, except that most of us have not lost, or know someone who has, their homes and lives to a whim of nature, so when we jog or wash our cars, its not with those thoughts in the back of our minds.
Im leaving Joplin today, and will head into Kansas and points west on this journey of mine, but what I saw here in the past two days will stay with me forever. I know there is a lot more to Joplin---street cars, and a lot of history, and I am sorry I didn’t get to see any of that this time around. Maybe next time around.