By John Coffelt

When Jerry Ward, a grandmother whose soft cheeks fail to show her time on Earth, left her home on Good Friday 2009, the haunting cries of the tornado sirens had not yet begun to sound. The only warning sign were thick black clouds marching in from the southwest.

On her way to visit her son and family across town, something tugged at her mind and she decided to take the long way. That may have saved her life because she missed the oncoming tornado.

The twister ripped its way through her neighborhood moments after she arrived at her son and daughter-in-law’s home.

“We heard the tornado sirens go off and all the lights went out,” said Jerry.

She and her son’s family huddled together. The house was silent, but for the eerie wail of the sirens and pecking of the furious storm.

After the storm abated Jerry climbed back into her car to see if her house with almost 40 years of memories was still there. She turned onto Haynes Drive. Her subdivision was hit hard. She neared her block. Homes were destroyed to the left and right.

Finally, she arrived at her home. It was standing. Tears of relief trickled over her smile-creased cheeks.

“I feel very fortunate,” said Jerry.

“All of those other people lost so much.”