Some days are good days some are bad. I never know what I'm going to get when I wake up. Today tears are dripping for another reason. I'm afraid for my family in Florida with this storm and hurricane coming. I have cousins who live there in Ocala.
I survived a hurricane when I was 13 and living in Hornell New York. It was hurricane Agnes. It was one of the most frightening and horrible experiences of my youth. We lost so much but most of all I lost my innocent ability to feel safe. I learned that mother nature could be cruel and take everything from you over night.
When I learned about my close friend, Rhonda Hendrickson, and her new home that she'd just bought in Houston Texas that was now under five feet of water from hurricane Harvey, I broke down and sobbed. I knew all too well the heartbreak of pictures and personal things that are gone forever after something like that. Keepsakes and beautiful antiques that would now be just memories. Storms don't care what they destroy. We can lock hands and elbows and weather the storm as best as we can, but hurricanes of life can still destroy us if we aren't careful.
In the end what we have safely tucked away in our minds nothing can take from us. We can move, lose everything to water, fire or time and still what we hae between our ears is ours forever. I can close my eyse and hear Taryn's laughter, see her dance, watch a movie with her and feel her swollen pregnant belly as I hugged little Kayan and whispered to him how much I loved him. I can do that anything I want and it doesn't matter where I live or who I'm with. My joy is in the fact that it's mine and no one will ever take those thoughts and memories from me. This is how the survivors of the holocaust continued to live. This is how we go on. I'm grateful to God for my memories, my past and my pain that teach me how to live a better life. No matter what life throws at us we have all we'll ever need in our memories, our hearts and our minds.
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