Kenly, N.C. — Argiro Gomez returned Thursday to what used to be his home at 847 Scott Road.
The 56-year-old Kenly man spent nearly a week at WakeMed with cuts, bruises, broken bones and a collapsed lung – injuries from the powerful tornado that destroyed his house early Saturday morning.
It changed his life in more ways than one. His wife, Marylin Gomez, died that morning when the house collapsed on her.
"We got married 22 years ago," Gomez said. "We lived together 24 – good times, bad times, but we stayed together."
All he has left now, he says, is his memories.
Born June 9, 1947, in New York, Marylin was a homemaker and a loving wife, mother and grandmother.
Gomez remembered how the two liked to joke with one another, recalling the last conversation they had before she died.
The two had fallen asleep in separate rooms, he said. But hours before the tornado hit, he went to check on his wife:
"Her final words – I said, 'Honey, are you OK?'
'Yes, I am.'
'Goodnight, I love you.'
'Goodnight.'
'Honey, are you sure?'
'Leave me alone!'"
Now, Gomez will say goodbye.
Family and friends will gather Thursday at 7 p.m. for a memorial service at Minshew-Coley Funeral Home on East Second Street in Kenly.
"With little that I had, she never missed anything that she wanted in life," Gomez said, recalling one Christmas when she begged him for a pool table that he had already bought her as a gift.



![[READ STORY]](http://wwwcache.wral.com/asset/news/national_world/national/2013/05/14/12445890/12446751-1368816960-100x75.jpg)
![[VIEW PAGE]](http://wwwcache.wral.com/asset/news/local/2013/05/13/12441232/hahn-100x75.jpg)
![[GALLERY]](http://wwwcache.wral.com/asset/entertainment/2013/03/28/12278304/LNL-100x75.jpg)
![[VIEW PAGE]](http://wwwcache.wral.com/asset/traffic/2009/07/23/5645694/beltline-100x75.jpg)
![[GALLERY]](http://wwwcache.wral.com/asset/entertainment/2013/03/04/12182235/12182236-1362457268-100x75.jpg)


WRAL.com welcomes your comments on this story. All comments are moderated prior to publication based on our posting guidelines. Please review them prior to posting and if your message is not approved.
This story is closed for comments. Comments on WRAL.com news stories are accepted and moderated between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.
texasncgirl- I know someone who personally knows this family and according to her he was "disoriented" after the tornado hit. She said that he honestly did not know what had happened and his first instincts were to run to his neighbor's house. She said that he is riddled with guilt because he did not go check on his wife first, but since he was hit in the head it caused him a lot of confusion.
I hope this answers your question.
November 21, 2008 8:56 a.m.
November 21, 2008 7:53 a.m.
November 20, 2008 8:51 p.m.
November 20, 2008 7:12 p.m.
November 20, 2008 5:11 p.m.