From Dave, Maxine's eldest son:
I remember getting a call at work one afternoon, on May 19, 2010. Mom was calm, but VERY firm....."Come home immediately". I was living at the beach, but had an apartment in the basement of her new home in Tigard. A year or so earlier, she had sold her old property to a developer, and had purchased a lot in the far (SE) corner of her old acreage. It was a nice piece of land that overlooked Fanno Creek, and probably upwards of 10 acres of a field that used to have berries on it back in the '50s, but it often flooded during the winters, and was nice to look at when the water reached within about 20' of her property. The only thing that stood between her property and the large agricultural fields was a small stand of large popular trees that may have been upwards of a hundred feet tall, and nearly 3 feet in diameter. During the winter, those trees shed their leaves and one could see everything pretty clearly.
That was a perfect location to build a new home, so she bought it from the developer, and contracted with a builder to put a nice home there that would meet her needs. Fortunately, it also met my needs as well, as I spent 4 days a week living in Mom's basement.
Due to the tenor of her voice, I knew that something serious had happened, and Mom needed help right away. I didn't quiz her, though....I just made my way to the car and didn't delay in getting back home, but it did take me a little less than 30 minutes. When I arrived, a fire engine was blocking the road, so I knew it was pretty serious. And...I could see the top of a tree laying over her roof, almost down to the gutter on the north side of the house!
I quickly found Mom, who related the entire story. She was entertaining a small group of her lady friends, maybe 8 or so with an afternoon luncheon. The weather was dark, wet and slightly gusty. If I remember correctly, Mom had made strawberry shortcake for their desert, and she and Jennifer (Simpson) had just delivered it from the kitchen to the table in the dining room. Jennifer had just gone ahead of her with the last of the shortcakes, and Mom was turning off the light in the kitchen to follow her.
All of a sudden, the was a burst of wind speed, followed by a lot of noise as two trees were blown over directly toward her house. The largest of the two fell directly over the kitchen, cutting right through the upper part of the construction, and knocking the refrigerator into the island in the middle of the kitchen. Of course, the stove sitting next to the fridge was destroyed, as well as all the cabinetry on the east and south walls of her kitchen, including the sink.
Thanks to the Lord, all the people inside were saved from phyisical harm, but they were all rattled by the experience. The ceiling had been cut through by the tree, and the pink insulation had poured out into the kitchen and living room. It was a mess, and nobody could finish their meal.......well, that's not quite true, as Susan (Welch....my baby sister) knew how good Mom's strawberry shortcakes were, so she sat back down and polished off her desert before leaving! I guess there was not much else that could be done, and it would be crazy to waste one of Mom's desserts!