It was April 3, 1974, a day not too much unlike any other spring day. I had just got home from school, I was 11 years old, and was kissed goodbye by my father as he left for work in Willard, Ohio. My mother was cleaning the house, and I was watching Dark Shadows, a soap opera about a vampire.

The network interrupted the show with a bulletin that said that the town of Xenia, Ohio in southern Ohio was hit by a devastating tornado. The day was stormy, and it was a little darker outside than normal, but who cared I was watching a show about vampires and it helped set the mood. The neighbors dog let out a noise that could not be called a howl, or a moan, it was just scary.

My mom was out in the back yard, nervously staring at the sky. Off in the distance was the darkest cloud I had ever seen, and a very distinct bottom to the cloud, with amazingly clear skies below it.

As we watched the storm front, three small v-shaped funnels formed in a row across the dark cloud. They seemed to stretch and grow as we stood mesmerized by Mother Nature's show. The three funnels grew and swirled and danced as they got closer to my small town. Soon the three became two, and the two one large tornado dancing on the ground, just to the north of us.

My mother urged me to go to the basement, just as the tornado sirens sounded in our neighborhood, I thought to myself, "Any dummy could have told a tornado was coming ten minutes ago, what took them so long?" I stood mesmerized by the sight of the tornado, and refused to retire to the safety of the basement.

The tornado headed West and North towards Willard, the town where my father had just gone to work. This bothered my mom more than me refusing to go to the basement. We turned on the radio after my mother tried to reach dad on the phone, but could not get through, due to downed phone lines.

The radio said that it looked like Willard will take a direct hit, and it did. The twister took out several trailer parks, and did severe damage to the industrial plant where my father worked.

He was safe........

Little did I know how that day would influence me. From that day on I loved watching the stormy skies. Wanted to see one of the twisters up close and personal.

Little did I know that I would work at the Xenia Daily Gazette, the town of Xenia, Ohio, was also wiped out by an F5 tornado the same day I saw my first tornado, which was part of the same outbreak that day.

Little did I know, I would be assigned to cover a group of storm chasers, and then I would become a founding member of the M.E.S.O. group (www.mcwar.org).

Little did I know that there were many people out there with similar stories to mine, that are now very close friends and fellow storm chasers. This year will mark our fourth year venturing into the Great Plains.

The more I learn about storms and tornadoes, I find out how little I do know...........