On September 22, 1905, residents of Phillisburg, Kansas were terrified by the appearance of a powerful tornado. There was no warning before the storm hit the tiny town. Inside the Caswell farmhouse, a frightened elderly couple and their visitors—their young daughter-in-law and grandson—saw the twister and simultaneously realized it was too late to get away.

The senior Mrs. Caswell seized her 8-month-old grandson but seconds later, he was torn from her arms. The old farmhouse was lifted from its foundation, tossed in the air like a frisbee, and flung 200 yards away.

In the silence that followed the storm, groans were heard coming from the debris. Amazingly, everyone had survived, though the elder and younger Mrs Caswells were seriously injured. Mr. Caswell sustained moderate injuries. “And seated upon a section of the floor, the only portion of a handsome country residence which the twister had not crushed into kindling wood, little Karl was found by neighbors after the passing of the storm….Baby Karl was without the slightest injury.”

I was inspired to look for a story like Karl’s after watching a documentary about the Joplin, Missouri F5 tornado in 2011. The documentary mentioned “the butterfly people” briefly and said that people in Joplin use the butterfly as a symbol of renewal. Apparently, soon after the tornado, a number of parents reported that their children had told them about seeing beautiful winged “Butterfly People” who protected them during the fiercely destructive twister.

Who knows? Certainly something protected the children of Joplin, just as something protected blessed baby Karl in 1905.