LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE
by Mathilda Best-Pomroy

One night in Merasheen we had a big thunder and lightning storm. Mom and I were at Clem and Ann's house. Clem's daughter, Anita, was a baby then. A lightning bolt struck the corner of Clem's house shaking it quite a lot and leaving a hole about the size of 50¢ in the bedroom wall over the bed where Anita was sleeping. It knocked the crucifix off the wall and it fell unto the bed just a few inches from Anita's head. This was the first time I ever heard Mom scream out, ‘Jesus Christ!’ To this day, I don't know whether she was praying or cursing because she couldn't remember saying the words.

Meanwhile Aiden was at home having a ‘mug-up’ and he had broken a cup. When we walked in, he had the handle in his hand. He said, ‘This will tell you how bad the lightning was. It knocked the cup right out of my hand.’ He didn't know at that time that the lightning had struck Clem‘s house.