Your dad was a hero. Happy birthday!

And, yes, he was a hero to so many.

I remember, so clearly, him talking about the children who had been rolled, by the winds, and they had dirt and gravel embedded into their skin. For the rest of his life, he always treated tornado warnings with the utmost of respect, and we kids were always bundled away, under a wash tub, in the basement.

And it happened almost 20 years before I was born. My dad was born very shortly after too, and I remember my grandmother telling me she was afraid she was going to go into labor that day she was so scared. They lived very close to where it hit. Michigan gets tornados but they're usually not massive beasts like that one. I don't believe there was much, if any warning.

She knew she was going into labor, and wanted to wash up before going to the hospital, because it had been a hot, humid day. But when she turned on the tap, there was no water. So she said they melted some ice cubes, and she used that water to clean up.

that's a great story.

I think there were times that my mom came to see that as a omen.