MOULTON, Ala. (WAAY) -- For coach Dirk Strunk, faith and football go hand-in-hand.
 
"It's a nice escape," he said.

The sport gives Dirk some time away from memories of the tornado that shredded the halls of Enterprise High School on March 1, 2007. Strunk was coaching at a school near Enterprise, while his wife Kathy was a teacher at Enterprise High when the storm hit.

"We went into the halls and we never left until the tornado hit," Kathy Strunk said.

Kathy was with the Strunks' daughter Katie minutes before their lives changed.

"I asked her if she was hungry because her lunch was in her locker, and she said, 'No, I'm fine,'" Kathy said. "And that was the last thing we ever said to each other and the lights went out in the school."

When she opened her eyes to the destruction afterwards, Kathy said knew that her daughter was dead.

"I looked over my shoulder and saw the entire wall has fallen on some of the students and I said, 'Oh no,' and I knew that [Katie] was gone," she said.

Katie, 15, was one of the eight people killed in the storm.

"I just didn't know what I was going to do without her," Kathy said.

Rebuilding for the Strunks has been tough.

"I'm recording memories so that I will always have them, because as the years go by i don't want to forget her," Kathy said.

But through the agony of losing a child, Dirk Strunk says his last memory of Katie helps him cope.

"Not every day would I kiss her on the head because most days i would just be like, 'Look, your mom's ready to go,'" he said. "But that just happened to be one of those days I kissed her on the head and told her I loved her. I think that's what helps me deal with everything, is the fact that I told her I loved her that morning."

The Strunks left their home in Enterprise to rebuild their lives in Lawrence County. It's a
new house, but Katie still has her own room.

"Shes got a closet with her clothes and books and music and all her things in there," Kathy said.

More reminders of Katie are in the house, from her portrait over their piano to the piles of scrap books friends and family have put together. Katie may be gone, but her memory is everywhere. The Strunks plan to keep it that way as they build a life focused on a faith that's stronger than ever.

"The message is, you've got to be ready when He calls your name, and she was ready," Dirk Strunk said.

If you have a story about how faith has changed lives in the Tennessee Valley, send it to faith@waaytv.com.

Reporter: Regina Raccuglia
Web Editor: Dana Franks

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