Cathy Sexton's story

I had a friend over at the house on Shady Lane playing Chinese jump rope (with scads of rubber bands linked together) when the shaking began. My mom, my friend and I ran outside and were hanging on to the garbage can that was frozen to the ground. Mom's greatest worry was her roast cooking in the oven. My sister was alone in her 4th Ave. pawnshop. Her husband, Allen, got there in time to get her out as she couldn’t open the door. Right after they got out, the shop collapsed. My dad was working under a car lifted on the rack in a Chevron station on Gambell St. The streets were cracking and breaking up around him (he was fine), but that car stayed on the rack! Weird! After the earthquake, our area was okay. We had no power or water, but we stayed with some older neighbors and waited for trucks to come with drinking water. The earthquake taught me to be prepared for anything — a good lesson.

Reprinted from the March 2014 issue of the Palmer Historical Society Newsletter.