I saw a post this morning that sorta broke my heart: a friend I've known
for years posted a photo of her home, boarded up.
I went ahead and offered her and her husband a place to stay should they
end up this far west.
You know, we hear about these awful things that happen in our world, and
I find it takes the involvement of family, friends or acquaintances to make
them really real for us.
I rode out a few hurricanes in my time in the service, but in that time
I lived in a home on a base or was a renter somewhere out on the economy.
I wasn't a homeowner. In 1992 I was stationed at a post in Central America.
I had a friend who transferred to my duty station because his station was
destroyed by a particularly nasty hurricane that struck South Florida. I
believe his property was pretty much at "ground zero" for Hurricane Andrew. He
lost everything. I've never known what that is like, and I certainly hope I
never will — and I hope to pay it forward by offering what I can to people I
know are in need.
I probably won't hear from my friend about this again. Hopefully she felt
at least a little relief knowing that I was ready to offer what I could.
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