A Shelter From the Storm

A Shelter from the Storm
28 March 2016

       I have been blessed with wonderful men in my life.

Men who were examples of hard work, dedication, faith, fun, and love.

My Dad and Uncle Weldon Johnson

Growing up, the most important man, of course, was my father, Vaughn Speakman.

One of my earliest memories of him is when I was about four years old and we lived in the little town of Aspermont in West Texas. 

Easter in Aspermont - Sue & Nancy

My sister and I were small and our family lived in a little rented house.

Christmas in Aspermont

Nancy's band-aide was for her small pox vaccination. 

 In the spring in West Texas there would be thunderstorms and sometimes tornadoes.   I remember one night when there was a lot of thunder and I couldn't sleep.  When the telephone unexpectedly rang, my father answered it and spoke to someone. After he hung up he told my mother that there was a tornado warning and we all needed to go to a storm cellar.  There were several families in town who had “storm cellars” and when there was a tornado warning everyone in town would gather to one of these cellars.

My sister and I were already in bed, so my parents wrapped blankets around us and carried us down the street to the back of the neighbor’s lot. 

Asleep in Aspermont

 The cellars would be out in the yard, not part of the house.

You entered by double doors that would be opened out on a slant just above the ground.   

Similar Storm Cellar

We went down the cement steps (which often had spiders) and spread blankets out on the floor of the cellar.  The children slept or played, the women visited, but the men stood outside and watched the clouds.  Occasionally my dad would come down the steps to report on the weather and check on us to see if everything was all right.  He had rain spots on his shirt and I was worried about his staying out where it was dangerous.  My mother told me not to worry, that the men would come in and close the cellar doors if they saw a tornado.

This was my first impression of what it meant to be a man and a father.  He carried me out of harm’s way.  He watched for danger.  He stood between the storm and me.  I knew from this experience that when I faced any kind of  “storm” in my life,  he would be there for me and I could trust him.

My dad cared about my physical, mental, and spiritual welfare.
He was always there to counsel and support me..

In Brownwood he organized a little dependent Sunday School to give us the opportunity to attend church and learn the gospel principles, taking on the responsibility of finding a meeting facility and organizing meetings.  He eventually had to leave his job in Brownwood because of religious persecution from his boss.
This, however, turned out to be a blessing in disguise - he got a better job in Fort Worth and our family was able to attend a real ward, resulting in my mother being baptized.

Brownwood Dependent Sunday School

In Fort Worth, when he served as bishop of the Fort Worth Ward, he took on the extra duty of teaching seminary one year when no one else was available, so that the teenagers in the ward would not miss a year of seminary instruction.  Looking back on those times in later years he marveled at what he was able to accomplish.  "I don't know how we did it," he remarked.  

"We were certainly blessed."

Fort Worth Ward Bishopric - 1962

His example has informed my understanding of my Heavenly Father.

He also stands between the storm and me.  He also cares a about my welfare.
He is there when I seek his counsel.

Psalm 46:1-3

1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

 2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

 3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.


My father was an advocate for women, believing that they should have all the advantages of men,
including as much education as they desired and any job they were qualified for.
It always upset him when he met a man who would not send his daughters to college "because they were only going to be housewives."

Fort Worth House

His faith and courage strengthened him at he dealt with life's problems and with the physical challenges he faced in later life.  He always stood and faced the storm, knowing there was an eternal shelter at his back and a dawn beyond the dark clouds and howling winds of the black night.

Colonel Vaughn Speakman