PILGER.............ONE YEAR LATER in AWAKEN

I don’t know if you even heard about the tornadoes that tore apart a small town in Nebraska a year ago today...............but I can tell you it was terrible, reason being is because I’m 15 miles from there in the small town of Stanton, Neb............it was one year ago that two tornados tore apart the small town of PILGER, NEB...........being a kid from Missouri, I’ve seen my fair share of tornados, and ive seen what one can do to a town big and small.......but two tornados, at the same time, side by side, now that is something you don’t witness every day. I was at the library here in the town of Stanton, ne. when it happen, the sky was as black as hell, it looked like someone turned the lights out, the computer I was on flickered, rain was coming down, but then it just turned off like a faucet, the librarians told me and four or five other people to get into the closet nearby, this little kid was crying so much, I felt so bad for him, his mom put on a brave face, but you could see she was scared out of her mind, and so was I. The tornado alarm was blaring, police, EMT, and so many other emergency vehicles was heard, and then the alarmed stopped...............but the damage was done, I went back to my house to find my father in law downstairs in the basement, my wife was right behind me coming from the store, and we turned on the T.V............the weather man was saying there were tornados sighted in the area(no s**t), but it was closers then I thought it was, the road heading out of Stanton was full of hay, telephone wires, and telephone poles...........that because one of the tornados they were talking about landed right outside my town........two blocks from my house, one street away....................all I could do was thank god that it didn’t come any further, but PILGER got it the worst, two tornados, each on one side of the highway, both are massive, destructive, and scary. When the dust settled PILGER was dam near wiped off the map, house destroyed, farm destroyed, schools, stores, everything............done, the road going into the town was closed off for weeks afterwards, and there were deaths as well...................flash forward one year later, I drive through Pilger,Ne. most times to get to Lincoln, the town is slowly getting itself back together, houses are being built, people have moved back, schools, stores, and everything else is still being worked on, but its getting there. In the 39 years I’ve lived on the earth, I’ve never been that close to a tornado, I’ve seen them from far out, on t.v., and it movies, but that day was haunting, for me and the folks in Pilger, but it also showed me that even in the worst possible days, people do have hearts, and some are stronger then most. I’m glad my family is ok, and I’m glad the town of PILGER, NEBRASKA is still here to talk about...........................SO SAY WE ALL.