Just A Note

 Hello dear friends!  By now, I am sure you all have seen the devastation that hurricane Helene has wrought on the North Carolina and Tennessee area.  One of my dearest friends lives in that area.  So I wanted to write to you make everyone aware of this; I have lived through floods, tornadoes , a fire, financial difficulties, and even getting the dreaded call from the police that someone in the family has been killed, so I can empathize with what those people are going through, but every tragedy is personal, and everyone reacts differently to it.  I am sure everyone wants to help those poor people.  And I am sure there will be lots of donations, which is wonderful.  But what most people don't consider is what happens after the news cycle stops making it the number one story and moves on to the next big issue.  Maybe it is just me, but I felt so isolated and alone, after all the excitement (not the correct word for it,I know) is over  and people get on with their lives while you are still left with the clean-up and the fears and the trauma of what has happened to you.  You feel so alone in the world. So I want to remind everyone that if you have friends that have been affected by the hurricane, check in on them often to see how they are psychologically and spiritually  doing and keep doing it for a while afterwards.  Be sensitive when talking to them.  I remember we had a thousand-year flood once and I was due to give birth to my last son  any day  and wasn't even sure how we were going to get to the hospital, plus being exhausted from the worry as our basement was flooded and a relative called up and complained about some minor thing like  a car repair.  Outside I was being polite, but inside my head I was screaming, "Don't you get it? My world is turned upside down. I only wish my worries were so little!" So what I am saying is be the compassionate, loving people I know that you are, and care for the victims long after the world has moved on.