I made a new friend last week. Her name is Carolyn. I had the pleasure of meeting Carolyn through my mother’s co-worker, Hillary. Carolyn is Hillary’s mother in law.
Carolyn is married with three children, 14 grandchildren, seven GREAT grandchildren, and a dachshund name Lilly. She resides in Orange, TX and has lived in her home, that was built in 1898, for 17 years. She is a kind, loving, providing and strong woman who has been through three hurricanes.
Two months ago, Carolyn began preparing for Hurricane Harvey, and what was predicted to be one of the most powerful hurricanes to make landfall. We have all seen the pictures of bumper to bumper traffic of residents trying to flee the path of hurricanes, or grocery stores stripped of all water, canned goods, generators, etc. How do you prepare for something so unpredictable?
Carolyn had attempted to flee the city when Hurricane Rita hit. She took her daughter, who at that time was undergoing chemo treatments, and headed towards Tyler, TX. After inching along the highway, she realized they would soon run out of gas. They exited in hopes of finding a gas station with gas, but had no such luck. Carolyn and her daughter ended up sleeping in the car, in a shopping mall parking lot. The next morning, residents of a nearby church were distributing gas to those stranded in the parking lot. Carolyn is forever thankful for their generosity.
This time Carolyn chose to prepare with prayer. She took precautionary measure by gathering water, food, flashlights, candles, and checked in on her family to make sure that they were prepared as well. And then they waited (Carolyn, her husband, and Lilly).
Harvey hit and it hit hard. News coverage and social media was flooded (no pun intended) of the devastation in Houston, Beaumont and surrounding areas. Roads were rivers, rivers were lakes, and lakes became residents front yards. You couldn’t escape the rain.
Carolyn’s home took in a foot and a half of water, and she was without electricity for four days. The water was inconvenient, but no electricity, in humid Houston…I couldn’t do it. But Carolyn did, and she did it with a smile.
Carolyn’s husband runs a small air conditioning business, and his ‘office’ is his backyard. Three of his work vans became ‘victims’ of Harvey and his materials were scattered like confetti. As soon as he was able he decided to get back to work. A decision that was easily made; his services would be in demand and he is the breadwinner of the home. Unfortunately, going back to work took him away from tending to his own home. This is where I knew I could make a difference.
I wasn’t exactly sure how or what I would be doing, but the opportunity to help Carolyn and her family filled my heart with joy.
While driving to Carolyn’s house, posts that I had seen on social media came to life. Homes destroyed, roadside trash EVERYWHERE, FEMA drop offs, empty school buildings, vacated cars. It was truly heartbreaking.
I spent the next few days cleaning and organizing Carolyn’s home. In between sifting through tools, trash, AC parts and other miscellaneous items, I could sneak in some cuddles and kisses from Stormy. Stormy showed up at Hillary’s home during Harvey, and by ‘showed up’ I mean she was swimming in Hillary’s front yard.
This blog is already much longer than I had planned for it to be, so I will get to the point. Amidst all the devastation that Harvey caused, it also brought about a peace. Peace that prayer and human fortitude can weather storms; peace that volunteering can truly make someone’s day; peace that it’s unlikely I will ever have to endure what all these folks did; and peace that good can come from something bad.
Good? From something bad? Yes, I saw it in Carolyn’s eyes and words. She is strong and loves God and family. Carolyn’s home is simple by most standards but her worth is not in material things but in relationships.
My sabbatical renewed friendships. But the friendship I made with this stranger who is now a friend brought me peace and a remembrance of what in life is truly important.
(again – I can’t figure out how to rotate these pictures. Sorry!)
