Small Miracles

I am a day late (again!) writing my blog but I had a good reason this time.  On Sunday morning at 6:15 am, I got a text from a friend saying she lost power.  As I read it, I lost mine.  I looked outside and saw that my tree in the front yard had totally toppled over and was on my neighbor’s driveway.  I could see one of her cars but not her Lexus.  I started to panic because I thought for sure it was trashed!  I posted on Facebook what had happened and within a short time a friend showed up with a chain saw.  Between my son, my neighbor, and myself we pulled off the limbs my friend was cutting off and found out the car did not have one scratch on it.  Miracle #1!

A little while later, my flood alert alarm went off in the basement.  I had never had water in the basement in 21 years and there was nothing there when I went down there.  Twenty minutes later, my cat came from the basement all wet.  I had an inch of water everywhere.  Within a few hours it rose to 4 inches but luckily we had gotten out the important items.  Miracle #2!

I posted on Facebook later that I was feeling very overwhelmed with it all; I sent out an SOS.  Another friend showed up Monday morning with her three kids and between them, myself, and my three children, we bailed water for hours.  Another friend also came with two more kids and lots of joking and laughing were happening which made the task that much better.  We were almost done by 4:00 pm when the power came back on.  Miracles #3 and #4!

The most surprising miracle came from a group of men I do not know.  These tree guys had cleaned up one neighbor’s house that morning and then did mine late in the day.  We asked them if they would clean up some brush for my other neighbor who is 85 years old and his wife who has Alzheimer’s.  Not only did they fit it into their tight schedules but they did not charge them! Miracle #5!

I know there are a lot more amazing stories of what happened during Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene but all I can say is that I learned a few things –

• Facebook can be a big help in seeking assistance and getting information.
• You really know who your friends are.
• Electricity is a beautiful thing and so is a hot shower.
• My basement is a lot cleaner and I was able to get rid of some stuff that the kids were not willing to part with before.
• My clients, friends, and family are all very supportive and have good senses of humor.  The best comment was when my friend posted “Is your business “branching out?”

I still have friends showering and doing laundry at my house.  Who knows when they will get power back but for their sake I hope soon.  As I was writing this, my home and office phones went out but luckily AT&T was able to get me back up very quickly.  Another small miracle!