Here I Am, Rock You Like a Hurricane

It's been a while in between posts. The reason is that our world got turned upside down starting on September 11th. That was the day we packed up and headed to Dallas to escape the potential wrath of a hurricane named Ike. At the time, my thought was "We'll probably lose power and it might be really windy and scare the kids...so let's skip out of town." Well, as it turned out, Ike slammed right into Houston creating more than just a little wind. In a nutshell, it sucked. Yeah, it really sucked. We lost power at home fro 16 days. 16 days. Not something I'd like to do again. Ike was kind enough to tear the roof off your Dad's business and we came back to find about four inches of water on the floor and the place smelling like a sewer. It was some kind of month. I can honestly say that I have never worked so hard, under so much pressure. It was the first time I can remember not being in control of a situation. Some insight...I don't do well in those situations. But we got through it, all of us. Your mom did a great job taking care of you guys and leaving me to deal with what I had on my plate. We're not done yet...we're still rebuilding the chocolate company and it'll be a few more weeks until things return to normal there. But we're getting there.

Amidst the destruction, turmoil, frustration, anxiety, stress, and hopelessness of the situation we found ourselves in, I was amazed at the sense of community that I saw especially amongst our neighbors. Everyone went out of their way to help each other. It was one of those things that restores your faith in your fellow man. In times of adversity we can still come together. There is hope after all.

I hope we never again have to go through anything like this. I underestimated it and I don't do that often. I will tell you this...if there's a next time...guess which family is gonna have the kick-ass hurricane preparedness kit on the block. You guessed it.

Headline from "Rock You Like a Hurricane" by The Scorpions, 1984