Moving Forward

So I missed What I Wore Wednesday for the first time (twice actually) since joining in about two years ago. Welp, we lost Internet because of that little Superstorm Sandy, so I realized the post wasn't going to happen.

What I didn't realize at the time was all the devastation that was happening around me.

While my husband and I were safe and warm in our little apartment (we were so fortunate to only lose power for an hour), my parents did not come through the storm so well.

My parents have lived in their home for 46 years and never once did it flood. During Hurricane Irene a year ago, the water came up to the house, but did not go in. Sandy was a different story. The water not only went into the house, but tore through their first floor. And it wasn't just water - it was 2 and a half feet of nasty salt water and sand which created a sludge coating throughout. All of the furniture, flooring, rugs, walls, and possessions on the first floor were hauled out to the front. Piles of it were picked up every day, three times a day by the sanitation workers. Every single house on their block had piles just like this one.

That line is the water line on their shed. 

Now, my parents consider themselves blessed. Really blessed. Because they still have a second floor that is their main living area, so they can continue to live in the house while all the demolition and repairs are being completed. And they have nephews in the home improvement business who made their project a top priority. My learning disabled aunt (who my parents have graciously taken care of for the past 20 years) and my brother are the ones who suffered the most and lost most of their belongings. But again, they are so very grateful to be safe, alive, and still have a home.

So many of my parents' neighbors are displaced, their homes being rendered uninhabitable by the storm. Finding housing has become the new problem in this area and the temps are falling, which is really making for an uncomfortable situation for those without power and heat or those without loved ones with the room to accommodate family members.

We've learned a lot from this storm. Nature has a way of surprising you and wreaking havoc you could never have imagined. Family surrounds you with support when you don't even know what you need. People are more important than any items we can own (part of this difficult experience has been sorting through four decades of hoarded stuff. My mom and brother have had to come to the realization that they need to stop valuing things and put their energy into life, not giving so much power to stuff). I've realized how much I should give up to make space for life to happen. Having the latest and greatest guest designer top from Target can't be what I waste my time and energy on. I need to make room in my life for things that matter. And those things aren't things, they're people.

My parents are coming through this really well. They even posed for a picture in my mother's heirloom goose-neck chair, inherited from her mom. Although it too had to be brought to the curb, they took a final picture in it (ironically the balloon was left over from my aunt's recent hospital stay and says 'welcome home') and managed to crack tiny smiles. The outpouring of care, concern, and love from family has been astounding.

Why am I writing this? Pretty much just give an update and thank those blog friends who emailed and texted me from across the country (and even across the world in London) praying for us before and after the storm. Maybe it's to offer a real-life perspective and peek into what's going on up here.

As we go forward, the one thing I've noticed is that hope is abundant. Yes, there are stories about people taking advantage of the situation, but overall, generosity and concern prevailed. My family's gratitude to those who have supported them (hot meals and hot showers were treasures) is indescribable.

They know it's a long haul, but they are trusting God in this situation, knowing that He will lead them through.