"You Just Can't Stop"

Moore, OK (May 30, 2013) - “Everybody calls me Eickey,” he said, when we met outside the barricade set up for the President’s visit to Moore on Sunday, May 26. Eickey was waiting patiently in his truck for the security perimeter to be dropped so he could return to the site where his home once stood--less than a block from Plaza Towers Elementary. With the Secret Service surrounding the site, Eickey was unable to start his daily chore of sorting through what he had left. His wife had walked past the roadblock, but Eickey wanted to stay in his truck so he could get a good spot right in front of what was left of his home.

On Monday, May 20th, Eickey left for work just 15 minutes before the twister hit. Eickey’s wife also survived, though the family did lose their cat. Eickey told us said he that just wanted to get to his stuff before someone else did, although most of what he found on his lot wasn’t his. As we chatted, he repeated his philosophy: “You gotta go on. You can’t stop; you just can’t stop.”

Arkansas-Oklahoma Division Director of Communications Cindy Fuller asked if she could pray with him when the traffic jam was just beginning to clear. “Of course,” he said. Then Cindy and Eickey bowed their heads and prayed together for healing and hope for all affected.