Stuff to Think About

A mobile home/trailer about 15 minutes from my house.

It's already been two weeks since Hurricane Ike graced us with his humongous presence. I feel blessed beyond belief. My home is safe. My family is safe. Our lives are returning to normal already. Power is back and our fridge is full of milk and fruit and lots of yummy fresh foods. This whole experience has given me a lot to think about though.

I remember the Wednesday night before the hurricane, how we realized that it was suddenly headed right towards us and we needed to decide what to do. I remember looking around the house when we were thinking about evacuating. What should I bring? What would I want to have in case the house was destroyed? What would I be so upset about loosing? What is hard if impossible to replace? Important papers immediately come to mind (birth certs, social security cards, diplomas, etc...) as well as pictures of the kids and our wedding. Scriptures and patriarchal blessings too, for comfort. But what about the other stuff? And that's when I realized that it's really just stuff. That's it!

It reminded me of my father-in-law. He bought a pretty darn nice car a few years ago and I would never drive it because it was so expensive and I didn't want to do anything to it. He always told me, "It's just a car." I didn't understand how he could feel that way about something that cost so much, that he liked so much, and that seemed so special.

And yet, here was I suddenly feeling the same way. Mind you, I have nothing that costs as much as that car, but I do have things that I/we saved up for. That we value and take care of and enjoy. (That we keep the kids away from so they won't break it. :) Suddenly they didn't seem so important or special. They were just things. It was really interesting to look at every thing in my home that way. Very humbling. It's so easy to get caught up and distracted these days. I have a lot of things that I don't NEED.

And here's something else that was humbling for me. Last Saturday I was trying to run some errands. I headed to the library first. My books were overdue, but I was hoping they'd understand why! :) On the way, only about 7 minutes from my house, I drove past a POD (point of distribution) where there was a line of cars waiting for their daily allotment of two bags of ice, 24 water bottles and a box of 12 MRE's. It made me wonder how long these people will be without power. It made wonder how their homes were. If they were getting enough food and water for their families.

The library was closed due to no power, so I took a back road up to my next stop. Along the back road I saw tons of trees and fences down, tarps on many roofs, and more than one mobile home completely ruined. I saw the roof of one mobile home wrapped around a chain-link fence. The home, on the other side of the street, was a mess from what I could see outside. Definitely not live-able. As I drove, I wondered about where those home owners were right now. In a hotel racking up bills they may not be able to afford? At a relative's home? But for how long? How long will they be displaced? How long before things can be fixed, or rebuilt? How long before they find their normal again?

I finished my errands and headed home. On the way, I pointed out a police man on a motorcycle to the kids. His lights were flashing, but he wasn't going fast. I was puzzled at first, and then realized he was escorting a hearse down the street. Oh that poor family. To deal with a hurricane and a death. I can't even imagine what they have suffered in such a short time.

It is so humbling to be here and be OK, and yet see so much around me and on the news that show thousands of people near me who are not OK. Who have suffered tremendously. Who have lost so much. And it's not over for them yet. It makes me all the more grateful for what I have. I wonder why I have been so blessed. Why me? I am no better than they.

I am very humbled.