An EF3 tornado swept through Poplar Bluff, Missouri, on March 14th, causing widespread destruction including the home of Darby Russom and her husband Trendall. Darby told People “Our house was a total loss. The tornado] took off our entire roof, took out our whole shed, and crushed our carport in, Of course I was upset about the house, but I knew eventually we could rebuild. What couldn't be replaced was heirlooms and stuff like that".
As she was trying to figure out how to rebuild while mourning the heirlooms she had no idea that 100 miles away in Brazeau, Bonnie and Doug Hemman, owners of Hemman Winery, discovered her wedding photo in their yard. Bonnie shared the image on social media, writing, “Does anyone know these beautiful ladies?” Within 30 minutes, someone recognized a niece in the photo, and the post quickly gained traction. Bonnie contacted Darby and let her know about the photo. Darby broke down crying as that was one of the the items she was thinking about that was irreplaceable. She told Bonnie the story about how the tornado destroyed her home.
Bonnie and Doug displayed the photo that day at their winery where customers check out with a brief description of the story and how they would be mailing it back the next day. So when the photo arrived it came with over $300 donated by winery customers.
Bonnie told KFVS-TV about her own experience of losing a home in a fire 15 years ago. “Losing possessions, especially pictures of memories, was important to me. And so I wanted to be able to get this back to this beautiful bride. If I could”.
Darby says she’s "very grateful" to have her wedding photo back. “I've been very emotional since the storm and this photo is now more cherished than ever. I will also say we never expected so many people to be reaching out, trying to help.”
Photo: Heather Paul / Moment / Getty Images