By Linda Elissalde
Mary Ellen Smith is a very good friend. Among her many fine qualities is the fact that she lets her buddies know when bad weather is about to occur. So it was that Mary Ellen warned Dr. Melanie Wallace that rain storms would arrive in Crystal Beach last Tuesday. Melanie, author of THE BOLIVAR PENINSULA, was here because of book signing obligations in Galveston. She had planned to stay through Tuesday, but headed back to Ft. Worth on Monday afternoon. Mary Ellen had urged Melanie to leave then and not be caught here in case of flooding.
Melanie returned safely to her wonderful 18th floor apartment in downtown Ft. Worth. The next morning as she was enjoying a cup of coffee, what should she hear? A tornado was roaring down the center of the city. POW! BANG! The window in her guestroom shattered as it was blown in by the twister.
Melanie, moving faster than she thought possible, headed to her secure sewing room, closed the door and adopted the drop and cover position that we were taught during the days we feared nuclear annihilation by the Soviets (some refer to those times as, “The good old days.”). All ended well.
Coby and grandpa playing ‘Tornado and The Trash Trucks’
It is indeed an ill wind that doesn’t blow some good to someone. The only one who felt really bad was Mary Ellen when she heard of the tornado. She just wanted to help a friend get to a safe place, and the safe place was hit by a tornado. However, out of this came a brand new game and a grand new window for the Wallace’s apartment.
[11-23-2015]
Posted in 
It was a horrifying experience, but I smile when I think of it because of our new tornado-trash-truck game. The ultimate “glass half full” outlook! Thanks, Linda, for a great article!