Below is the obituary of my adoptive paternal grandfather, William Birdle Elam.
When Grandpa died, my family and I were on a camping trip to Colorado. At the time, we, my mother, my father and myself, were camping at the Mountain Park Campground. We left our itinerary with several people so they could contact us through the various park services system if needed.
We were to be in Rapid City, South Dakota, July 10th, 1972. We stayed longer at the campground which threw our travels off. It was assumed we were there when the flood happened. I could tell stories about being rerouted through the worst of the flood, but that's for about time.
What followed was a family panicked and a small Kentucky town coming together trying to find us.
The day we pulled into my mother's parents farm, we couldn't understand why Grandma came running to the car crying...
She told us quickly what had happened and everyone thought we were dead as well.
On the way home, we stopped by Vienna to visit his grave. It was the first and only time I saw my father cry.
We were to be in Rapid City, South Dakota, July 10th, 1972. We stayed longer at the campground which threw our travels off. It was assumed we were there when the flood happened. I could tell stories about being rerouted through the worst of the flood, but that's for about time.
What followed was a family panicked and a small Kentucky town coming together trying to find us.
The day we pulled into my mother's parents farm, we couldn't understand why Grandma came running to the car crying...
She told us quickly what had happened and everyone thought we were dead as well.
On the way home, we stopped by Vienna to visit his grave. It was the first and only time I saw my father cry.
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