My focus as of late has been on hurricane ike and the so called recovery process. Thank the Lord, I'm able to be in my home, sleep in my bed ( :) ) and type on my own computer. For that I am blessed. Never would I have understood the extent of pain others are going through except I see it happening to my brother and sister in law. The pain of losing everything is unbelievable but that's only the beginning of the horror.
Its been 2 months now and no possibility of an end in sight. They have moved from hotel to hotel, some very nice, some adequate. The story is long and discouraging. Help comes with a "forked-tongue". True one day, false the next. What I want to tell you today is one of the realities of this type of natural disaster.
One day last week I went with Ted and Brenda to "view the remains" At this day, almost two months later the roads are almost passable. Rollover Pass bridge has been made into a one way bridge with a signal light. Washed out areas of the road have been temporarily patched. Debris is everywhere. Plastic bags hang from the
light poles. Those little suckers really hang in there!!!
Ted and Brenda's place is swept clean... kinda, with a heavy cover of sand. There's a huge pond where the house used to be with their car and lawn mower in the pond. There's also one window frame, no glass, left hanging where the storage shed used to be. We took pictures, Ted walked out to the edge of the property toward the beach.
Brenda and I started wandering toward the road. Rains since Ike have started bringing little 'treasures' to the surface. We found a few dishes but they weren't Brenda's. Toward the edge of the road, Brenda told me to look. It was a bone, partly buried in the sand. She moved it around with her foot and we discussed what KIND of bone it might be. We called Ted over and he said it looked like a "femar". I kept thinking, no its got to be a cow or horse or very large dog... you know, I'm really smart that way :) We took photos and put it in the van.
That bone/person rode around with us in the van for a couple of days !!!! Long story about how it got turned in but we have had a part of a human hanging out with us, being in the car while we DRANK COKES OVER IT, talked, chatted and "fairly recently" dead !!!!!! Its now in the care of the Galveston County Medical Examiner's office and hopefully will someday be reunited with family. Remember the old song we used to sing... Dem bones, dem bones, dem...dry bones. Ezekiel's bones.
Next chapterAfter learning about the bone we started thinking about something else we found that was strange. There was a piece of broken siding laying face down in the sand with
things under it. I could see there was writing, like spray painting. Ted turned it over for it and it said "H e l p" sprayed on that strip.
NOW, since finding that bone, that's real. Who wrote that sign? What happened that night? What's the rest of that story???
NOW, since finding that bone, that's real. Who wrote that sign? What happened that night? What's the rest of that story???
For the second time in less than a month we are dealing with a storm. This one threathens to be a whopper. Ted and Brenda took this photo yesterday in Gulf Shores. This is part of Ike as far west as Florida. Amazing
We met last summer when Flo came to visit her daughter, my sister in law, Brenda. Flo was my constant companion that summer. We had long talks on the porch, lunches out and a few naps together during Dr. Phil. Flo is from Georgia and just the typical Georgian peach you would expect. Her soft, gracious voice seemed to remind you of times of Plantations, rides in a carriage and large billious skirts. She was always a lady but could defend herself if necessary. She has a fiesty side that made us all stop and take note when she was truly riled. There was always a "please" and "thank you" quick on her tongue.
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