GILMER, Texas — Lifelong Gilmer resident Janell Berry said that last week's tornado was the worst weather event she had ever witnessed in the area.
Luckily, she decided to leave to take shelter somewhere safely when the tornado hit her area, destroying her home.
Berry said she was happy that her and her family were OK. However, she was crushed that her special items and memories were potentially gone forever.
"We had lots of memories in that storage building. That's what makes this really hard," said Berry.
Coming off a recent knee surgery, it's tough for her to move around for extended periods of time, making it especially difficult to search the property for her items.
However, Gilmer residents have come to her property to search specifically for her lost items in hopes of finding some of her cherished memories.
"All of these people here today," said Berry. "I've never even met them before. Them all coming out to help … it means so much."
One particular item that was missing was her late father's footstone, which had been in her home. She assumed it was lost forever. That is, until she was sent a post on Facebook, showing that someone had found the footstone over a mile away.
"“I didn’t really realize it was gone, but a lady put it on Facebook and it’s a picture of my daddy’s footstone. So she brought it to the neighbors and we got the footstone back, and I’m really proud of that."
Berry said she will continue to clean up and search for her items. But the help of the Gilmer community has truly helped beyond measure.