WHITAKER: I don't know. The Red Cross is really superb. You know, they're right there in. The National Guard is just tremendous, police officers, everybody. I mean, it's just like patients helping patients. And the hospital, they really need everybody's respect.
ROBERTS: Well, hopefully some outside help will be on its way soon. Mayor Shelvy Linville was here with us this morning saying that he is expecting that there will be some help coming from outside.
WHITAKER: Can I say one thing?
ROBERTS: Sure, go ahead.
WHITAKER: Please don't be embarrassed to get in a bathtub thinking it might blow away, because I know one lady, the only thing was left is her bathtub. Don't think about it.
ROBERTS: That's what they say in a tornado. If you can't get into a basement, the best place to be is to jump into the bathtub.
WHITAKER: Yes but a lot of people don't want to get in a bathtub because they think -- I'm weak. ROBERTS: There's an example to save somebody's life. Pam Whitaker, thanks so much for being with us this morning.
WHITAKER: Thank you, sir.
ROBERTS: I hope that everything works out for you. We got to get you some shoes first of all.
WHITAKER: OK. I've got feet, that's all that matters.
ROBERTS: Pam, thank you so much and amazing how strong you are this morning.
WHITAKER: All right, thank you.
ROBERTS: Let's go back to New York and here's Alina.
As I'm sure everyone else was who was watching CNN that morning, I was impressed with Pam's amazing grace under pressure. Talk about courage in the face of adversity! I wrote down her name and vowed to myself that I would later contact this woman somehow to express my admiration for her selfless commitment and willingness to overlook her own dire misfortune so that she could help others who were worse off. (Not that one can get much more worse off than just losing one's entire home along with all her worldly possessions!)
When I returned from Auburn to my fortunately intact home, I went on the internet and Googled Pam Whitaker to see if I could find her address. I found the address of her home had been mentioned in the CNN transcript of her interview and I mailed her a letter expressing my admiration for her. I also sent her a few dollars which I asked her to put towards putting her life back together.
Several days later I came home and found a voicemail message from Pam, thanking me profusely for my letter and the money I had sent her. I called her back and spoke with her briefly. As you can imagine, her life was still in quite a state of turmoil and Pam continued to tell me how all of the townspeople had been so kind to her and she was proud of how her small town had come together and cared for the victims of this deadly weather phenomenon. She praised all of the help that the Red Cross was providing both her and her mother who is stricken with Alzheimer's disease. I told her that she was a great inspiration to me and my family and I wished her luck in her ordeal.
I apologize for not including it in the article above.
Also, FYI, the Zip Code for Lafayette, TN is 37083.
After I submitted this article, I got the bright idea to nominate Pam and her mother for ABC's Extreme Makeover / Home Edition, and I'm working on filling out the 20-page nomination form. I can't think of anyone more deserving of this honor......
by
Kris Malmquist (9 articles, 0 quicklinks, 39 diaries, 101 comments)
on Sunday, May 25, 2008 at 1:54:06 AM
I like her more because she is not a hero. She has the capacity to endure what seems to be unendurable. She is a victim with grace, like so many others. Heros are fictions invented to keep our nose to the wall - usually the wall of war. (Believe it or not, a tornado touched down a block away from my house a couple of days ago, and I was admiring the green-colored storm from my back window. My dog, Max, was barking like mad at the tornado outside my front window. I was the idiot, and he was my hero, though it didn't do any good.)
by
John Hanks (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1373 comments)
on Sunday, May 25, 2008 at 9:02:29 AM
I just mailed off the 20 page application form to nominate Pam Whitaker to receive an Extreme Makeover / Home Edition for her home that was destroyed in the tornado. It was kind of funny when I was filling out the application, it says to list the five repairs that the home needs. I wrote "to say that Pam's home needed a makeover and repairs was quite an understatement!"
If you feel that Pam Whitaker would be a deserving person to be featured on an upcoming episode of ABC's Extreme Makeover / Home Edition, please write to the producers of this show to express your support. The address is:
Lock & Key Productions
C/O Family Casting
P.O. Box 38670
Los Angeles, CA 90038
Wouldn't it be great if the Op-Ed News Community could all band together and start a letter-writing campaign to help this woman who has cheerfully endured more hardship than any human being should ever have to?
I bet it will make Rob Kall proud to see us all doing what we can to help out our fellow sisters and brothers!
by
Kris Malmquist (9 articles, 0 quicklinks, 39 diaries, 101 comments)
on Monday, May 26, 2008 at 3:55:38 AM
I was just thinking that wow -- tomorrow perhaps another natural disaster will happen and my home could be completely destroyed and I could lose all of my earthly possessions. But at least I have the comfort of knowing that I can probably count on my federal government, to which I have been paying taxes into for as long as I can remember, to provide me with a whole one thousand dollars! That oughta' cover it.....?? Sort of makes a person wonder how any of us would get along without good Ole Uncle Sam in our corner when we need him the most? (Cough, cough.)
by
Kris Malmquist (9 articles, 0 quicklinks, 39 diaries, 101 comments)
on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 at 3:33:02 AM
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