A couple we know - best friends of ours, in fact - won’t be able to live in their home for at least the next 3 - 4 months because of Hurricane Sandy. You won’t hear about them or their neighborhood, since the really bad stuff hasn’t been reported accurately. No surprise there. Politicians who joined in a staged media production featuring their supposed expert management of the crisis don’t want to dwell on the utter devastation in my friends’ neighborhood.
What’s important to note here is not so much that my friends’ experience would contradict the claims of government “being there” for the people (although it probably would); it’s rather the way they’ve dealt with the almost total destruction of their home and loss of possessions. Imagine trying to find a place to live temporarily, while simultaneously searching for qualified for professionals to begin the cleaning up and re-building and doing it all basically on your own, with occasional help from neighbors in the same situation and a trickle of good-hearted volunteers. The fact is, government was nowhere to be found in their neighborhood during or after the storm. (One exception: some FEMA people walking through the rubble and filth told them that if they smelled gas they should report it to their local utility company - the same company that still has not been able to restore power to some homes three weeks after the storm. Thanks a lot!)
Naturally our friends will apply for whatever government relief may be available to them. If it comes, in whatever form it comes, fine. Otherwise they’ll keep plugging away until they’re settled again, sometime after the holiday season, which, of course they’ll have to spend away from home with the few possessions they’ve been able to salvage. In the midst of it all, they’ve focused on what needs to be done and faced the hardships in remarkably good spirits, even telling us how they’re a lot better off than some others. Impressive people, these friends.
What about Thanksgiving? They’ll be spending it with some other friends - the same friends who will provide them with space in their home to stay for a bit.
Sometimes it takes a storm to bring out the best in us. Fortunately there are still enough “us” with enough of “the best” left in them out there, our friends being among the best of the best.
So a special thanks to our dear friends and all who put forth their best after facing the worst. We so need your example and inspiration, and you haven’t failed us.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
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