Hurricane Irene

Well we evacuated for Hurricane Irene last Thursday and we just got home and settled after the storm.  I was hesitant to leave at first because it is a lot of work to pack up your irreplacebles and all the "stuff" you need for yourself and 3 little ones.  If I didn't have to, I didn't want to.  But since returning home, I am very thankful we left.  We came home to a mess!  It could have been much, much worse but it was enough.  I had my moment of feeling extremely overwelmed when I drove down my road and began to see the destruction so close to home.  I had a since of relief as I pulled into my driveway and it appearred that things weren't so bad.  Then I had another moment of being overewelmed as I entered my backyard and saw more damage than first perceived.  I let a few tears stream down my face as I looked around and had so many thoughts rushing through my head at once.  I hadn't even entered my house yet to assess the situation inside.  One of my fears while gone was that my house would have some flooding.  I pulled myself together because the kids were already feeling the stress of the whole situation and they didn't need to see me upset.  I gave myself those few seconds to feel the emotions of the moment and then slowly began to wrap my head around what needed to be done and had to stop my thoughts from thinking too far ahead.  I needed to handle things one step at a time.  I left the kiddos in the car while I went to check things out first.  I just wanted to be sure that there were no broken windows (glass) or standing water anywhere that might be harmful to the kids.  I was relieved once again as I realized there was no flooding or broken windows and there didn't seem to be any damage to the inside of the house.  I brought the kids inside and cleaned up the water in the floor from the freezer and fridge and then worked my way upstairs.  I walked into my bedroom and noticed right away that I had a massive leak in my roof and my ceiling was a drooping, sagging mess.  That feeling of dread and overwelm returned yet again.  I came down stairs and called the only person I could think to call to help me.  I needed to deal with my roof first because we had more thunderstorms rolling in at that very moment.  He was a retired Marine that used to work with my husband and he came over immediately to help tarp my roof until I could get ahold of my insurance company for repairs.  It is funny how a simple tarp could bring me so much relief and make me feel so much better right away.  Within an hour of returning home my cell phone was blowing up with people calling to offer their help. 

It makes me so proud to be a part of this community, this military community, that have been here helping me any way they can.  The spouses have pulled together, been there for each other emotionally and physically from start to finish in this whole ordeal.  We were all making phone calls to make sure everyone was paired with someone and had the help they needed from the preparations to the leaving town and through the returning home and clean up efforts.  We made sure everyone was accounted for and safe and have been one another's support system even as I type this.  To know that we didn't have to go this alone was more than I can say!  As we drove back home we made stops at one another's homes to access the damages and take care of things that needed immediate attention before moving on to the next home.  To have someone there as I pulled in my driveway and had my mini meltdown in the backyard to assure me that I could do this and handle it all was exactly what I needed to keep my wits about me.  For that I am so incredibly thankful!  I have had a spouse staying at my house for the past few days as we waited on power to be turned back on and to have her help with kiddos and get dinner prepared as I made numerous phone calls to my insurance company and family makes me swell with emotions! 

I have trees down all over my property, one in my pool, one over my fence, my fence gone, my deck busted, a massive leak in my roof (a brand new roof mind you), and some structural damage as my back door will not close or latch or lock and is sitting lopsided.  But I have power, my house is still standing, and I have 3 beautiful, happy, healthy babies that have been a nice distraction from the stress of the situation and an amazing husband who is doing his darnest to be that support and help that I need from the other side of the world!  The rest is just stuff.  And that is all that matters.  There are plenty of others around me right now that cannot say all that I mentioned and that breaks my heart to pieces!  Tomorrow is my husband and I's anniversary and I literally just had a knock on the door from the FedEx man.  My husband sent me diamond earrings with the sweetest message ever!  I am a blubbering mess right now.  I think the stress of the past week just hit!  It is moments like this, after holding my babies and reassuring them that everything will/is ok that I wish I had my husband here to hold me and tell me that everything will be ok.  Being strong and "on" 24/7 is exhausting and I think I need the day off.  I will think about all the rest tomorrow!  We will be ok and we will come out of this on top, that I do know.  It will just be a little bumpy along the way.