Gifford

I am just haunted by the pictures of the tornado damage in Gifford, Illinois. My mother in law died 9 years ago, but before that, for 20+ years, I spent numerous holidays, as well as other family visits, in Gifford. Ernie didn't grow up in Gifford, his parents moved there after he graduated high school....but since then, that was his family home.

Even though I'd heard the damage was bad, when Ernie and I watched the first video of it on the news, I gasped and covered my mouth, and tears came to my eyes. I can't quite tell if his parents house is gone or not....I thought I recognized their street in some of the videos but it's hard to tell. And of course, we have no formal connection to the house now, but every so often we'll drive by and we're always pleased to see it looking so good, doing improvements that Alice would have liked. My heart breaks for all of those impacted by this. I believe Gifford State Bank has an account set up for donations, and of course the Red Cross is involved. We will try to scrape together a little bit to donate. I've been following this page for information.