A story from Nonna's past, some details may have been added, but this is basically one of Nonna's stories...

Today four year old Ethel was excited, her and her Mamma were going to town to get a new pair of shoes.  Special church shoes that made a tap tap sound whenever she walked.  They were pretty, black and shiny.

They passed horses, carriages, and even a few motor cars as they walked.  It really was exciting.

As they walked home Ethel clutched her special shoes with one hand, and held tightly to her Mother with the other.

Soon they were home, where it was snug and warm, and Ethel was showing her new shoes to all of her brothers and sisters, nine in all.

A storm started brewing, then the thunder started booming.  Ethel ran under the bed in her Mom and Dad's room.  Thunder scared her, and she hid under that bed clutching her black pat and leather shoes.

Soon her brother Freddy, nearly an adult found her under her parents room and gently asked her what she was doing.  She told him that she was hiding, and that she was going to run away to where it never thunder and lightned.  Freddy smiled gently at her, and then led her from under the bed, still clutching her black shoes.

She did leave home one day, for a place called California, where it did not thunder and lighten as often as it had in Providence, by then she had a child of her own, and in less than four years would have four children all together, including the oldest.

Ethel, or ( Nonna)  remained scared of thunder and lightening all of her life.