Wowzers, Batman

Imagine you are in your late sixties, (or if you already are, I guess you don't have to imagine) and you have worked hard to make you home and yard look nice. You decided to move your manufactured home to an area with lots of shade, big pine trees, old oak trees, the home just embedded in the splendors of nature. You keep your yard nice and neat, you put a chainlink fence around to protect your property and allow you to see what you have achieved at a glance. You go as so far as to add a new roof and new storage shed where you piddle around with tools and other "man" things. You are on a fixed income and are happy with life. Then one day you hear of this terrible hurricane coming at you. Well, with little time to prepare anything, you hope for the best, go to the local church (which doubles as the shelter), say a few prayers, and bury your head as the eye of the storm passes over you.

You walk home, unable to drive down the street because of all the fallen trees. As you are walking you keep second guessing yourself and your significant others want for a fortress of tress and cursing nature. The lengthy walk home builds up anticipation and apprehension with every weary step. You stop in front of where you home is suppose to be, eyes shifting, searching like wild animal for a way out of a cage. You can't see you home because of the 27 trees blown over in your yard(literally, I counted them all). Finally after fighting and prying the sap laden trees apart you find your home to have three trees resting on it uneasily. Your front door is no longer the beaker of welcome for you children, grandchildren, and friends that it once was. Now it mocks you as the dangerous enemy you never get too close to, waiting to snap and creek with you inside. You realize your home is broken, much like you heart at this moment. With sad desperation you do what you can to move personal affects from the home, throwing away most of it. All you can do now is wait for the insurance money so you can start all over again. You wonder if all those years of premiums will yield a return enough to bring you back to the standard of living you had prior to the Worst Natural Disaster in this countries history. The answer...No, you don't, but a positive attitude and family that cares, is the right start to putting things back together.

This little old couple owned this home. They did not have enough insurance to cover what they had put into the home, they will probably loose thousands and thousands of dollars worth of property, time, and effort because of the storm. When I met with them you couldn't tell if they were in a bad spot or not. They were all smiles, thank-your, and very hospitable. We went next door to a relatives house where they served me the best sweet tea I could handle on a 90+ degree day. They filled out the appropriate paperwork, I gave them their check, and bade them good luck. I will, more than likely, never see them again. But with all the bad that has happened to them, they have still maintained the keys to making it through. Smiles and Positive attitudes. I am not going to go into some PSA about how you need to have a good attitude and smiles are contagious and all that cliche, repetitive crap. But, I find the fortitude of people amazing everyday. God sure knew what He was doing.