Saturday, December 18, 2010

Struck By Lightning, Twice!


Growing up, my parents always told us kids how dad was struck twice by lightning, once as a child and once after we lived in Florida. We always marveled at that story. How could that be? Struck by lightning twice and no marks?

Well, the other day when I drove my friend to her doctor's appointment, I waited in the car like I usually do with something to read. This time I'd taken my binder full of copies I'd made of letters written during the great depression by my paternal great grandmother Sarah to her son, my granduncle Hobart Wallen. I had read through these letters once before but I didn't remember this one short paragraph she'd written on August 7, 1932.....

"Last Tues. there was an electrical storm & lightening struck their house and shocked Bobby, he didn't get over it till next day. It damaged the house so much that it took a carpenter about all day to fix it."


Excerpt from letter written by Sarah Davis Wallen/Livesay
to her son Hobart Wallen 7 Aug. 1932


I was tickled pink, to say the least, and when my friend came out to the car I was still giggling over it. What a great thing to find this story told just days after the incident happened! Of course my dad was never hit directly by lightning...at least I don't think he was!


Note: The scan of my great grandmother's letter was actually two scans stitched together by my brand new early Christmas present, my Flip-Pal Scanner. This was my first try, minutes after opening the package. What a snap! I love my new toy!


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7 comments:

  1. It's interesting the usage of the phrase "shocked Bobby." You could take it to mean literally shocked him or scared/unnerved him. You could read it either way. Too bad she wasn't more specific.

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  2. Dad always said it knocked him off his feet and dazed him. It was a big deal...much more than just an unnerving would be, from what I understood.

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  3. Knocked him off his feet! Wow. I guess it certainly "shocked Bobby," one way or another.

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  4. I can imagine it was more than unnerving. pugbug that is funny.
    Lisa this title really caught my eye. Great find.

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  5. Great find! (and congrats on the fun Christmas present!)

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  6. Interesting post. It's great when we find documentation to back up our families stories.

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