Mood: Confusion to Understanding December 10, 2009

On the day of my fifth birthday, which happened to coincided with the Storm of the Century, I remember feeling very confused. I knew what a flood was, but up until that day, I had never experienced one.  I couldn’t really understand what was happening or why. I didn’t know what to do, so I just watched as my mother took care of things.

I saw my mother insure that all of our family was together under one roof, I saw her send my brother to fetch fire wood, and I saw her send all of our excess hamburgers and hot dogs (what would have been served at my birthday party) to a local church, so that people who were most in need would have something to eat. I watched my mother work diligently to see that everyone and everything was taken care of, and her efforts were rewarded, though I couldn’t see that at the time.

I now understand that the storm happening on my birthday was a blessing. We were able to feed so many people because the party was rescheduled and we had so much extra food.

One my logo, I have my motto as, “Do the best you can with where you are and with what you have got.” Sometimes, you can’t always see the end of the road. No one truly knows what the end result is going to be until we reach the end.  In life, the only things you have control over are the decisions you make. You cannot control the choices of others. You cannot control the weather. All I can do is work hard and do my best, and trust that my goodness and efforts will ensure that everything will fall into place as it should.

The Storm of the Century – Part 3 October 7, 2009

Water never got inside of my house, which was a true blessing. With my family all gathered together under one roof, we had cake and I opened some of my present. I remember my Uncle Robert sent me legos, so my brother and I were able to play with my new toy inside.

My dad was at work when the tide started rolling in, and when he came home, he brought pizza with him. We lit a fire because it was so cold.  Everyone was gathered in the living room. My brother played with his Lincoln Logs.

The water gradually evaporated, so my cousins, brother, and I had swampy yards to play in for a couple of days.

Eventually everything returned back to normal, and I had a make-up birthday party at McDonald’s. Still, I will never forget the day of my fifth birthday–ever.

The Storm of the Century – Part 2 October 7, 2009

The tide continued to rise. My mom went into crisis management mode. She had my old brother swim into our back yard to salvage some fire wood (the electricity had gone out, and it was expected to be a cold evening). All of the hot dogs and hamburgers, which were intended for my party guests, were sent to the Baptist church down the road. We sent a boat (yes a boat) across the street to pick-up family members who lived in my neighborhood. The first trip brought my grandmother, my aunt (who was a teenager at the time), and my aunt’s friend who had spent the night. I watched as they steered the boat through my front yard, hitting a great oak tree in the process. The boat driver dropped everyone off at my front porch, and then went to get my great-grandmother.

I love my great-grandmother, but she was a stubborn woman. Even though there was water in her house, she was admittedly opposed to getting into the boat which would take her to higher ground (my house). Although she lived her whole life in Florida, she never learned how to swim and was deathly afraid of the water. He was eventually able to get her into the boat, Lord knows how. So she was able to join the rest of the family at my house.

My grandfather has many, many hunting dogs that he keeps fenced in down the road. One of the dogs had given birth to a litter of puppies not long before the storm. By the time he got to the Dog Pin (what we call the fenced in area), all but one of the puppies had died. My grandfather brought the lone survivor to my house. We named him Stormy, and he grew-up to be the best hunting dog ever.