Hello From Tennessee,

Tonight I was going to write about the election. I had planned on starting to write again. But after the tornado's moved across parts of our great state Tuesday night, the story below is a reminder that there are more important things in life than politics. So I will save my thoughts on Tuesdays election for another night. Please read the story below and keep the people in your prayers. The twisters killed 32 people in Tennessee, 13 in Arkansas, 7 in Kentucky and 5 in Alabama.

Keith

CASTALIAN SPRINGS, Tenn.

At first, rescuers thought it was a doll. Then it moved.

In a grassy pasture strewn with toys, splintered lumber and bricks tossed by the tornado's widespread wrath, 11-month old Kyson Stowell was lying face down in the mud, 150 yards from where his home once stood.

"It looked like a baby doll," said David Harmon, a firefighter who had already combed the field once looking for survivors. Then he checked for a pulse. "He was laying there motionless ... and he took a breath of air and started crying."

The field had already been combed once for survivors, and finding anyone alive seemed improbable. Hours after the storm, there was devastation everywhere: The body of the boy's mother was found in the same field, houses were wiped to concrete slabs and a brick post office was blown to bits. But except for a few scrapes, Kyson was fine.

Kyson's story emerged as a tale of hope amid spectacular misery as residents in Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas tried to piece their lives back together after the nation's deadliest twister rampage in two decades killed 58 people.

There was good news to celebrate. Baby Kyson was discharged from a hospital and was in the care of his grandparents. He had scrapes and gashes on his cheek and by his big blue eyes, but otherwise was fine. Clinging to his grandmother, he fussed a little - something he normally does at naptime.

As word the tornado was coming spread through the community Tuesday, the Stowells called their their 23-year-old daughter Kerri warning her to take cover. In a phone call with her fiance's sister, Kerri said she was bracing for the storm in the bathtub, clutching her baby to her side.

The phone cut out as Kay Stowell and her daughter spoke. Then came an ominous voicemail - no words, just the sound of wind.

It took two hours for the Stowells to drive around the downed trees and power lines and make the four-mile trip to Kerri's home- or what was left of it. It was during that time that rescuers Harmon and Karl Wegner decided to give the pasture one last look.

When the Stowells made it to the scene, the first thing Douglas Stowell saw was a firefighter holding the baby. Not long thereafter, another emergency worker showed Stowell a photo of a body found nearby. He confirmed it was his stepdaughter.

"If it had been both of them, I couldn't have handled it," he said.

Kerri Stowell's fiance, 22-year-old Charles Scott, believed she tried to keep her son safe as the storm closed in. "She would have given her life trying to protect that baby," he said.

The family has set up a trust fund to pay for Kyson Stowell's college education. Checks may be sent to Sun Trust Bank, 1605 21st Ave. S., Nashville, TN 37212. Or call 615-340-0249

Please Remember the People of Tennessee in your prayers. Thank God that in the mist of a tragedy there is hope and there is A miracle.

Keith