Stand by Me

At 5:41 p.m. on Sunday, May 22, 2011, a catastrophic EF5 tornado struck Joplin, Missouri. When the tornado lifted minutes later, 160 persons were dead, 1,150 were injured, and the area had sustained approximately $2.8 billion in damages. The author of this work, Mrs. Ollie (Brooks) Kirby, born in Fairdealing, Missouri, had followed the progression of the storm from her home in Santa Maria, California, and was in constant contact with friends and relatives, checking on their well-being and needs. Within a short time after the tornado struck, the author visited the area and, after seeing the survivors' attitudes and the astonishing and unselfish response from neighbors and volunteers to those in desperate need, decided the individual and group efforts to help in this tragedy should be documented. "Stand by Me" was written as a tribute to people in the central part of the United States (the "Heartland"), whose faith in God sustained them through incredible adversities. The stories herein are based on fact, not fiction. The individuals are real, not imaginary. A very old (1905) Negro spiritual entitled, "Stand by Me," was the inspiration for the title of this book. It was written by Charles Albert Tindley, who was born July 7, 1851, in Berlin, Maryland, and was a son of slaves. He taught himself to read and write by the age of 17 and moved to Philadelphia. He went on to become an African-American Methodist Episcopal minister. All of us have experienced storms in our lives. They are not always natural events, such as tornadoes, fires, floods, ice storms, or earthquakes, but can also include many other devastating, life-altering events or circumstances, such as wars, accidents, or the death of a loved one. Turn to Chapter 20 (Oklahoma) and read the true story of an 18-year-old American soldier, who was a World War II Prisoner of War in a German prison camp in France. Psalm 23 (Thou Art With Me) certainly applied in his case. "Stand By Me" depicts the goodness of average people and their propensity and willingness to help those in need. It introduces us to individuals who have suffered painful and destructive losses, and to those persons who willingly came to their assistance, often at great expense. In short, we live in a great nation, where it has been repeatedly demonstrated that we really are our "brother's keeper."