Ed and Angela's Story

---

What’s the first thing you do after seeing your world turn upside down in 32 minutes? For Ed and Angela, survivors of the devastating tornado in Joplin, Missouri, on May 22, 2011, it was to find their son, who had been working out in the gym two blocks away.

Ed and Angela had been living on the first floor of a two-story apartment building. Like many others, they had ignored the tornado sirens until Angela saw the tornado coming toward them from out the kitchen window. They ran to the bathroom and lay on the floor, hugging each other, as the tornado ripped the apartment building from over their heads. They were saved by the bathroom door, which wedged itself between the wall and the vanity counter just above them.

The roar of the tornado passed, and their cramped space became eerily quiet. Angela turned her head and was able to see a patch of blue sky above their tiny shelter. “Ed, we’re outside!” she exclaimed. They dared not move; appropriately so, for soon a second twister, stronger and louder the first, rushed through. The tornado lifted their bodies up off the floor, much like a fan holds up an air hockey puck. Only the bathroom door, still wedged above, kept them from soaring into the air.

After the second funnel passed, they each squeezed through a small hole in the rubble above them and began to look for their son. It had been hot that afternoon; they were still dressed in shorts and tee shirts. Now rain was pouring down; nearly seven inches in an hour. The rain turned to hail. They were freezing and there was no shelter anywhere they looked. Their apartment building – all of the buildings around them – were piles of rubble.

They made their way toward the gym, looking for their son. He was looking for them too, but not before he helped a fellow gym member whose leg had been broken. The family reconnected after a long 45 minute search.

They had each other, but nothing else in their lives would be the same. Nearly all their possessions were lost or not salvageable. All three of their cars were totaled. They found shelter for the night in a nearby apartment building that still had a roof. The next day, they began the long journey of pulling their lives back together. While sifting through the remains of their apartment, Ed’s son found one priced possession – a ring Ed earned for bowling a perfect game – twelve strikes in a row. The ring, Ed’s wallet, a $20 bill, and a pocket knife were among the only things they ever recovered.

Ed and Angela’s story is one of thousands that transpired in Joplin on that Sunday night. In all, 7,000 homes were destroyed; another 850 were damaged. Miraculously, only 161 lives were lost. When the survivors tell their stories, they rarely mention the things they lost – TVs, sofas, entire wardrobes. They talk more about the heroic deeds of their friends and neighbors and the miracles of the people who survived.

For more than a year, Ed and Angela have been living in a FEMA trailer near the Joplin airport. A team of Thrivent Builds volunteers, recruited from all across the country, is working with Ed, Angela, and the local Habitat for Humanity affiliate to build the family a new home. In a town where so much has happened in the last 18 months, we believe we are doing God’s work.

---