Aftermath

I am not even sure where to begin with this entry. Several states just endured a 4 day monster that ripped through and brought devastation over many. I am used to hurricanes, I am used to unpredictable weather...this however...this was scary. There were over 130 tornadoes reported, lives lost, homes uprooted, hail damage and the flooding...oh my dear, the flooding. Needless to say, anyone in the path of these storms took a beating. I have never experienced hail like that, nor have I ever been so thankful for large closets, but all in all, we came out of it much better off than a whollllle lot of other people. I found myself suddenly realizing how many people I know that were in the line of destruction.

I am lost for words looking at all the pictures, videos, news casts and Facebook posts. Reading blogs and different perspectives of the same storm. It is crazy how your neighbor is left with nothing but a slab while your house is merely missing a few shingles. Seeing pictures of how Ono Island became Oh No Island. Pensacola is under water, as are parts of South Alabama.The damage in all states impacted...it is incomprehensible.

You see stories of parents protecting children, pets being found, boats being carried miles and miles away. You see household items floating down what used to be a street. You see cars filling up with water, you see shreds of wood from what used to be a house. You see vehicles in sinkholes, items impaled in trees and people literally kayaking down the street to help others who are stranded on top of their house or car. You see people trying to pick up pieces of their life, what little they can find of it. You see all of this and it makes you just want to cry, or understand or just scream.

If I had enough arms I would hug everyone who was impacted. If I had enough money I would help rebuild, replace and restore. If I had enough belongings, I would donate it all. I see communities coming together, I see volunteers risking their own safety to help others. It's a beautiful thing, really. It is almost contagious. So what do I have enough of, I ask myself. Well, hope is pretty infinite, and so is compassion and effort. I also have the beautiful power of prayer. Ideas start unfolding, enveloping my every thought, and suddenly I am compelled to do SOMETHING. I feel if I am able, I should....right?

So maybe it will be a fundraiser, maybe it will be an item raiser...maybe it will be a huge Joy Latte project. The fact that I can generate several ideas in such a short amount of time makes me realize there is really no reason to not help. It is about realizing you have a purpose in life, and utilizing that purpose for the better of the communities, people and support that surrounds tragedies such as this.

Most of you still have a house on a street that you can still drive down in a car that you still have with someone is the passenger seat that is still alive. Imagine if ALL of that was taken from you at one time.

I refuse to call this the aftermath.Think about it...what is the true aftermath of tragedy? Overcoming it, right? I believe the aftermath of this will be communities rebuilt with compassion, more pride for those communities and a new chapter for those involved. Everything may have washed away for some, but what is yet to come can be a beautiful thing. Strength, bravery, effort, love, commodore, hope and revitalization.....THAT is what defines the aftermath....THAT is what will be remembered.

Peace and Joy,
Beth