Elverna Bradshaw

Hello! It’s a rainy, soggy, and cold day in Lando today. I reckon we’ve had a couple of inches.

We still are feeling the effect of the drought, but we’re grateful for the rain.

The rainy days always remind me of the big Lando flood of 1927. Most young folks around here aren’t old enough to remember it, but most of my generation does. The rain started late on Sunday night, and didn’t stop until the following Sunday. There was so much water that it rose above the roof-tops of most of the homes here. It almost washed the entire town away.

Most everyone got out when the water was beginning to get into their home. I say most because there was one stubborn old bird that we just could not get to leave.

Her name was Elverna Bradshaw, but just about everyone knew her as the widow Bradshaw. Elverna’s husband died in a freak farming accident shortly after they were married.

Mr. Bradshaw was probably only 20 years old at the time, but he still had a bit of maturing to do. One Friday night after he and his buddies had closed down the Lando Beach and Racquet Club, they decided to sneak into Bill Johnson’s grazing pasture and have a good-old, knee-slapping adventure tipping cows. We don’t know how many cows got tipped that night, but Bill says most of them cows never were ‘right’ after that night.

Bradshaw was hiding along side of Bill’s thresher waiting for things to get quiet and for his next target to doze off. He tip-toed quietly up to the biggest heifer in the pasture, and gave her a good strong push on one side! This was the exact same technique he had been using all night, but this time something went terribly wrong. The cow started tipping away from Bradshaw, but suddenly she woke up, and realising that she was falling, tried to right herself.

Well, she must have over-compensated, because she started tipping the other way.

Right towards Bradshaw!

He tried to get away, but his feet just slipped right out from under him, and that heifer fell right on top of Bradshaw.

Killed him.

All of his buddies come running up to the cow screaming, “What’d you kill Bradshaw fer?...What’d you kill Bradshaw fer?”

They’s all no count, and that old cow was give out and couldn’t answer.

She just lay there on top of poor old Bradshaw, and that’s how Elverna came to be known as the widow Bradshaw.


Lot’s of boys come to court her after a respectable mourning time, but she wouldn’t have anything to do with them. She always said, “The Lord will provide.”

After a few years, they all stopped coming around.

Try as we might, Elverna refused to leave her home.

After the water got up past the first floor, a couple of local men drove over there in a fishing boat and tried to get her to leave.

She just said, “No. The Lord will provide.”

Later in the week, the water had risen over the top of most homes. The local Sheriff’s deputies took a rescue boat over and found Elverna, wrapped in a wet blanket and sitting on the roof of her house. The deputies could see how miserable she was, and tried to get her to get in the boat so they could take her to the shelter.

Stubborn old Elverna just said, “No, the Lord will provide.”

The next day, the water was still rising, and a lot of debris was washing by and made travelling by boat dangerous, so the National Guard took a helicopter over to get Elverna. The found her clinging to the chimney, shivering cold with only a piece of the blanket left.

Even then, Elverna was so stubborn and would not get in the helicopter.

She just kept saying, “The Lord will provide.”

Elverna T. Bradshaw on the Roof

Later that evening, the rushing water finally won out and took Elverna and her home down the river.

The only thing they could find was that tattered blanket she was using to stay warm.

So now we see Elverna at the Pearly Gates, and standing there with Saint Peter is the Lord. Elverna rushed over and looked at the Lord with a look of pure bewilderment.

“Lord”, she asked. “All my life, I believed in you and your provision for me. Why was it when I needed you most, you didn’t provide?”

“My son”, said the lord, “when you saw only one set of footprints, that is when I carried you.”

Elverna looked even more pitiful and asked, “What?”

Saint Peter explained, “Sister Bradshaw, the Lord is still talking with another who has just arrived and has had questions. Please be patient and wait upon the Lord.”

The Lord then looked at stubborn old Elverna and said, “Elverna. I did provide. I sent people to warn you, two rescue boats, and a helicopter. How much more provision did you expect?”

Elverna was a fine piece of work. Lando could sure use another like her!