Something I meant to share

Some experiences I had in the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma. I'll do it now.

First is how neighbors pull together after disaster. I'm not a very outgoing person, I rarely say anything more than hi or bye to neighbors. My wife is the total opposite, bless her heart.

After Wilma came through there was tons of debris. Much of it heavy in nature. Our fences were down in places and me and the wife are unable to move the down parts. My neighbors helped me, three of them to take the debris and just stack it in our backyard.

But we all helped one another any which way we could. Other people needed help with screens, or sweeping up broken roof tiles. Everyone chipped in. You never hear this in the media, they just like to portray the bad like they did after Katrina. Even if it was utter BS. A disaster brings a community together and it did so in Lantana.

The day after Wilma we had like a block party/barbeque. With no power food was going to go to waste, so we cooked it. One neighbor had a gas grill, another the old type with coals. We and our neighbors feasted on chicken, steak or whatever anyone brought. As we ate we sat in lawn chairs in our street. I remember one neighbor, he really liked that NY Strip steak I contributed and thanked us.

Another person I have to mention is Terry. She and my wife have been friends for about 10 years. Terry is a widow in her 70's who lives alone. She's a fellow parishoner at our church. Terry was kind enough to let us live with her after power was restored to her home 3 days after Wilma hit. We stayed there most of the next 10 days. Thank you Terry.

Parishoners helped to clean up outside our church after Wilma too. We had 20-25 come the Saturday after the storm. Some doing yard debris, others trying to patch the roof on the rectory and social hall.

What I'm trying to say is the worst brings out the best in people. I do see that even if I harp on knuckleheads. Maybe I should be more positive about life. Just thought I'd share this.

Open Post- Don Surber, Basil's Blog, Jo's Cafe, Is it just me?, Bright & Early,