| Tornado destroyed belongings, but not his spirit |
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By: By Lisa Marchesoni, Senior Writer
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Alan Miller lost all of his worldy possessions.
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Alan Miller knows what it's like to own only the clothes he wears.
Miller lost all his worldly possessions in seconds when an F4 tornado with winds between 207 to 260 mph whipped through his Barfield subdivision about 5 p.m. Jan. 24, 1997 and swept away his Hogan Street home.
Despite the devastating loss, Miller counted his blessings because wife, Beverly, and stepdaughter Meagan Richmond, then 11, stopped to play basketball rather than come straight home that fateful Friday night. Otherwise, they would have been at home, Miller said as his expression darkened for a moment.
"God takes care of us," Miller said simply.
Reflecting
Miller, who is in his 50s, now serves as superintendent of the Rutherford County Correctional Work Center where he supervises more than 100 convicts serving time for mostly misdemeanor crimes.
He reminisced about the tornado that destroyed his belongings but strengthened his spirit.
When the tornado struck, Miller was on duty as a Murfreesboro Police officer. He watched the storm clouds hover over the city. Soon, a fellow officer radioed the tornado struck his house.
As Miller eased through his subdivision in a patrol cruiser, he recalled how strange the neighborhood appeared.
"Houses I previously used as landmarks were total rubble," Miller recalled, adding he knew where he was but his mind couldn't register the unfamiliar sights. "The only way I recognized where my house had been was my antique car. I saw the car upside down lying in a pile of rubble.
"I thought I was in the wrong place. It was massive, total destruction."
Beverly took Meagan to a friend's house and took their dog, ironically named Stormy, who survived the storm, to a veterinarian for boarding. She returned to the confusion.
"We just sat there the first night," Miller remembered. "Someone brought Army cots. We didn't sleep. We didn't talk a lot either. It's numbing."
Dawn broke to an oddly quiet neighborhood. Everybody was disoriented. He and his wife wore the same clothes with no clean underwear available.
Family and friends arrived to help the Millers salvage anything, especially mementos of sentimental value. Most of the items found at his home belonged to someone else. He found parts of the sectional sofa and the bottom of his house one-fourth mile away.
"I had no idea where the top was," Miller said.
People gathered up and exchanged photographs, many damaged beyond repair. He lost some pictures of deceased family members.
Miller's collection of firearms stored in a safe stayed intact but others remain lost. On top of everything else, he feared a child might be injured with a gun.
On the first day, someone brought them a toothbrush and toothpaste.
"That little toothbrush helped you come back to reality," Miller said, remembering how comforting it was to simply brush his teeth.
Volunteers and church members helped with whatever needed to be done, amazing him with their concern and willingness.
Recovering
The Millers spent the first few days trying to salvage belongings until they realized it was impossible to save much of anything. When they reached that decision, they started rebuilding their lives. The family, who had insurance, first relocated to the DoubleTree Hotel, then moved into an apartment.
For a moment, Miller joked it wasn't difficult to move "because we had a lot less to move."
The Millers decided not to rebuild in the same place but built another house with a storm shelter inside.
Support of family and friends helped the Millers start to heal.
"I've been so blessed by friends and family," Miller said.
As time passed, one of Meagan's friends returned a family photograph found on East Main Street about five miles away. Their check to close on the Hogan Street house was found in Auburntown in Cannon County, about 30 miles away.
Adapting
Miller didn't forget the unidentified volunteers who helped his family recover. When tornadoes struck in the Gum community in April 28, 2002 and in Walter Hill May 11, 2003, Miller offered to help.
He reassured traumatized, upset, depressed people that "things will be OK. You can make it through and make it better."
When he hears about a tornado, Miller experiences an instant bond with victims.
"It becomes very personal," he explained. "Your heart goes out to them."
Since then, Miller bought weather radios for alerts and pays attention when the weather forecaster predicts tornadoes.
He's not alone. When Stormy hears high winds, the dog stacks its favorite stuffed toys as if to say, "If it gets bad, take the toys. Let's get out of here, Al."
Miller understands.
"Sometimes you get so consumed with the physical things in life. You look at your possessions. If one good thing came out of the storm it's this: you have to focus on the things that are important. I've been blessed by that."
Lisa Marchesoni may be reached at 869-0814 or at lmarchesoni@murfreesboropost.com.
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