Such starkly contrasting events, especially coming, as they sometimes do, so close together, tend to sober us and cause us to realize that just as there is life, there is also death. My aunt was 96 years old. She had lived a very long life, much longer than two of her four sisters. My mother, the third youngest of the four, died first, killed by a drunk driver. Then the eldest sister died of natural causes. Now this aunt is gone, and I’ve yet to learn exactly what happened in

Most of us actually already know all those things and that we should be prepared, but how many of us really are? Even those who seem prepared are stunned when such storms strike. The size, strength, and sheer magnitude of natural disasters amaze us and leave us speechless and searching for ways to express the awe and horror they produce in us. Eighty-four years ago, on March 21, 1932, a massive storm system produced at least thirty-six tornadoes in eight states, ripping throu