Goodbye Irma
This is not a dental blog tonight. I thought it would be more appropriate to take a different direction and although I haven’t slept much the past few days, (bear with any spelling grammatical errors) I’m still feeling compelled to mention a few things I am so thankful for right now:
- Sitting here at my home in the cool AC
- Typing on this laptop in my fully functional kitchen
- Listening to the background noise of a television
- Watching my daughter from the corner of my eye while she’s sipping a glass of cold water
- Sporting some buttery soft leggings after a warm shower
- Feeling the sunburn, blisters and sore muscles from cleaning up storm damaged leaves and branches for a good part of the day
- Wondering how many patients will be able to show up for their dental appointments tomorrow
- Washing the dirty laundry from our last three days away from home
- Looking forward to hearing a podcast by the Momgienists
- The king sized bed that will never be taken for granted
We were prepared for Hurricane Irma… well, as prepared as you can be considering it’s one of the gnarliest weather systems I have ever seen engulf the state of Florida. With almost a week to buy supplies, ready the house for the worst case scenarios, and get to higher ground, the wait was grueling! We got out before they issued an evacuation order in our flood zones but nothing less than completely out of the state was good enough for those watching from afar. We received lots of well wishes and just as many “Are you crazy”, “You could die”, and “Just drive or fly away from that monster”. Easier said than done. Water and bread became scarce (why don’t people just buy protein bars and coconut water like me?) and gas couldn’t be found on most exits. People started to panic and some of the routes out of here were more like parking lots. Considering all factors, we found a super strong house with two generators and we were surrounded by loved ones. There was a safe space and plans B and C. We wanted to be close enough so we could get back soon to start the cleanup process. We were lucky. Very very lucky. Although this nasty hurricane looked like it would swallow us as a category 3 or 4, she weakened after hitting land to our South and turned to the west and then to the north. The power went out some time before it got dark and before the winds picked up again, but playing cards by flashlight was quite fun. The kids slept through the worst parts of the storm that only handed us tropical storm forced winds. I actually watched our little blue dot location in the path of intense bands of wind that seemed to go on either side and never directly on us. It was surreal and weird. I listened to the chirping of what I estimate to be 8-12 frogs outside the window. When they got quiet, I got nervous. When they started singing again, I would drift off for a quick nap. This went on for a few hours until I turned the phone on one last time and realized that we were safe. Amazingly safe. Ridiculously safe. I couldn’t believe it. We were able to come back home today when my wonderful neighbors sent me photos of my house that suffered zero damage. The power wasn’t even out long enough to spoil the food.
I don’t want this all to be about our experience. There are people still without power and others have suffered extensive damage to their homes and businesses. My heart breaks for those that were not lucky. I worry about friends and family in the center of the state that were hit hard. Hopefully all of you reading this can take a moment and be thankful for the device you read this on. Keep your eyes out for ways you can help people that are suffering or less fortunate. Not just when terrible weather strikes but everyday, in your own neighborhoods and within your online networks. I do believe we are all connected and capable of doing amazing things for one another.
Thank you for being here to read this!