Paige Gould
It has been over a week since, the "epic" flood. My readers have enjoyed, some of the great times, I have had this summer. Nothing can prepare a person for the great strength water can bring to the table.
People that my husband and I say "Hi" to, or greet in the grocery store week after week, now have NOTHING. Businesses, homes lost down the Whetstone Brook. A young man that was supposed to be in my son's class in High School, Marble Arvidson has been missing since Saturday, August 27th. Gone, just like my garden, gone under the mud. My neighborhood is and has been mud lately.
I or rather "we" were not prepared to handle the raw emotion a tragedy can bring. My mother kept telling me "Don't cry Paige", you need to keep it together for your boys. My husband "Be strong, don't let them pick up on your fear". I literally wandered around the morning of August 29th with a jug of water that my sister in Christ Stephanie Kendall gave me. I was numb, and stunned.
When we arrived at our home, our yard or what was once our yard, was similar to a creek bed drying up in a drought. The mud or silt just painted a picture of being under water for a long time. The remnants of my herb garden, were the tops of my cherry tomatoes, buried under heavy mud. My garden was gone. My spruces and goat willow missing.
The west side of my trailer had so much debris, that it took my husband and I, a week to get it right. On Tuesday August 30th, I raked some much debris out from under our home, some of which was children's toys and blankets, that I actually questioned "Why"?
We were more fortunate than our neighbors. My neighbor Sandy fell into a sink hole and broke her ankle in 3 places, within just a blink of an eye. I am not going to glass this over, the folks in Melrose Terrace, Glen Park and on Brookwood Street were and will qualify as devastation.
I felt sick and terrible all at the same time. There was nothing that I could do, but to lean on the shoulders of my church. What I heard from a "very cool source" there was a convoy or a "semi" heading it's way from Tennessee to Brattleboro, Vermont to help. This was my chance!!!
I embraced my opportunity to help my neighborhood, whether you needed it or not. The sentiment was there. This was important to me. It distracted me to the turmoil that both my sons displayed. My youngest Kerry age 9, displayed it on August 29th, crying and trying to gather his Mom walking around with a water jug. My oldest Casey, it came out at the end of the week, in very heart wrenching sobs, that just picked open my tentative healing wounds. Nothing can prepare you for this.
My church seven vehicles strong delivered supplies to those that were abandoned, left behind. I was so happy and strong. The best thing that came out of the storm, was that I could be a Godmother to an amazing young woman. I pale in comparison to her resolve. I will take care of her to my dying day, as God as my witness, Kalie Rae I will honor my part.
You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. ~Desmond Tutu
People that my husband and I say "Hi" to, or greet in the grocery store week after week, now have NOTHING. Businesses, homes lost down the Whetstone Brook. A young man that was supposed to be in my son's class in High School, Marble Arvidson has been missing since Saturday, August 27th. Gone, just like my garden, gone under the mud. My neighborhood is and has been mud lately.
I or rather "we" were not prepared to handle the raw emotion a tragedy can bring. My mother kept telling me "Don't cry Paige", you need to keep it together for your boys. My husband "Be strong, don't let them pick up on your fear". I literally wandered around the morning of August 29th with a jug of water that my sister in Christ Stephanie Kendall gave me. I was numb, and stunned.
When we arrived at our home, our yard or what was once our yard, was similar to a creek bed drying up in a drought. The mud or silt just painted a picture of being under water for a long time. The remnants of my herb garden, were the tops of my cherry tomatoes, buried under heavy mud. My garden was gone. My spruces and goat willow missing.
The west side of my trailer had so much debris, that it took my husband and I, a week to get it right. On Tuesday August 30th, I raked some much debris out from under our home, some of which was children's toys and blankets, that I actually questioned "Why"?
We were more fortunate than our neighbors. My neighbor Sandy fell into a sink hole and broke her ankle in 3 places, within just a blink of an eye. I am not going to glass this over, the folks in Melrose Terrace, Glen Park and on Brookwood Street were and will qualify as devastation.
I felt sick and terrible all at the same time. There was nothing that I could do, but to lean on the shoulders of my church. What I heard from a "very cool source" there was a convoy or a "semi" heading it's way from Tennessee to Brattleboro, Vermont to help. This was my chance!!!
I embraced my opportunity to help my neighborhood, whether you needed it or not. The sentiment was there. This was important to me. It distracted me to the turmoil that both my sons displayed. My youngest Kerry age 9, displayed it on August 29th, crying and trying to gather his Mom walking around with a water jug. My oldest Casey, it came out at the end of the week, in very heart wrenching sobs, that just picked open my tentative healing wounds. Nothing can prepare you for this.
My church seven vehicles strong delivered supplies to those that were abandoned, left behind. I was so happy and strong. The best thing that came out of the storm, was that I could be a Godmother to an amazing young woman. I pale in comparison to her resolve. I will take care of her to my dying day, as God as my witness, Kalie Rae I will honor my part.
You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. ~Desmond Tutu
1 comments:
Paige, my prayers remain with you during these difficult times. Your essay moved me to tears.
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