August 30, 2019
One of my first memories of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Flint, Michigan is during the summer of 1972. I was 7 years old.
My brother and I and some kids were sweeping the cement walk near the front entrance to our newly built Church, on the side of the parking lot.
We heard what sounded like a woman crying coming from the field adjacent to the Church. See here to the right of the photo.
The older boys said it was La Llorona, or weeping woman.
For a moment we stood in silence holding our brooms as we all looked toward the field.
It felt eerie.
In Mexican folklore the legend of the “weeping woman” is well known. It has many variations, depending on who is telling the story.
All I knew then was that it was a female ghost crying for her lost children.
As I stood there looking at the field on that hot summer day, I do not remember my thoughts, but I do remember that day, like it was yesterday.
Years later as a teenager I learned that our Church was built directly over the path of the 1953 Beecher tornado that killed 116 people. It was an F5, the largest and most deadly of all tornados.
Half of the people that died that day were children and teenagers.
In this map you see a darker area toward the beginning of the path which marks heavy loss on Coldwater Road
The Church was built in this darker area where it remains today, on Coldwater Road about a half mile east of Clio Road.
I’m not sure what to make of ghosts or spirits of the dead and whether some remain here on earth.
The cries we heard that summer could have been nothing more than a cat in distress.
I like to believe that the souls of those who died in that awful tragedy were safely ushered into heaven along with the children.
Perhaps some spirits remain here.
If so, the area where the Church stands today is certainly one where you might find them.
It certainly seemed that way during the summer of 72.
updated: 8.10.21