Lightning Strikes...INSIDE The House

I saw this story on GMA yesterday morning before I headed off to work. You might think it unlikely that lightning can strike someone inside a house, but it is most definitely possible. I used to rent a small house on the Ohio River back home, and it got "hit" by lightning twice while I was living there. Thank goodness I have a brother who is an insurance agent; renter's insurance came in handy both times.

Anyway, the first time it happened, I came home from work...there had been severe storms during the day...to find that several "electrical" appliances were not working, including my TV and cordless phones. The second time, I had just arrived home from work. The sky was turning black and it looked like a big gray wall of water was heading up the river toward my house. I closed the curtains and was just reaching to unplug my TV when this lighting bolt...or that is what it looked like to me...exploded in my living room. I mean, sparks flew out of the outlet and there was a loud crackling sound. Scary stuff.

I wasn't hurt, but it wiped me out. I lost two televisions, two VCRs, telephones, computer, garbage disposal, hot water heater. You name it, it got "fried." So, when I saw this story about the mom standing at the kitchen sink, holding a pan, and getting zapped by a bolt of lightning that came through a light fixture in the ceiling, it caught my attention.

It is a nice story; especially how the mom's nine-year old son, Tristan, had the presence of mind to call 9-1-1 instead of his grandmother as his mom had instructed him to do. When Robin Roberts asks him how he knew to do that, he says he doesn't remember how he thought to do it, but on this "equation" he somehow just remembered what to do. Cute. Art Linkletter was right...kids do say the darndest things.