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After the tragedy of Katrina, we sent a gift to friends who lost everything and wound up living in a 16-foot FEMA trailer. Among the gifts was a garland of tiny wooden Santas for them to hang around the trailer door. There was no room for any other festive stuff.
Turns out the garland was an exact replica of one they had…one that got washed away with the flood waters. It became a tiny reminder that Christmas stuff may get washed away, but happy Christmas memories are with us forever.
Then came Super Storm Sandy, again washing away homes and memories and leaving locals at the mercy of strangers’ generosity for the holidays. Again, Americans from all over the country opened their hearts and their pocket books to help.
Those friends wiped out by Katrina? They finally left the trailer – after getting to know each other REALLY well in those tight quarters. They rebuilt their lives and are doing OK. They are together, they’re happy and they wrote that they hung the Santa garland again this year to remind each other that things could be worse and they do get better.
The folks devastated by Sandy will do the same thing. Life will go on, and before they know it, Christmas will be here, yet again.
Maybe this time, they’ll have the chance to help someone else in need.
It’s what we Americans do.
Show #464
I was nearlyy wiped out in the Minot, ND, flood of 2011. I’m still recovering. I had just moved here about 7-8 months before the flood and hadn’t made many friends…my son and daughter-in-law both were on emergency duty (Air Force and Air National Guard) that weekend and I was babysitting my grandsons. When my son was finally let go to help me get some personal stuff out of my apartment, we had just hours before the sirens. We tossed books and genealogy charts and a few bits of clothing into four plastic bins. I left all my kitchen stuff, all my bathroom stuff, all my furniture, behind. It’s not something you get over. Even after three years, I’m still struggling to get my life back together.
Karen – I can feel the sadness in your words. We have friends whose house burned down jut about a year ago to this day. Watching the community come to their support was uplifting. But they too will take a long time to catch up. Keep moving along the path that will bring your life back together, Karen. It will happen.