To our dear friends and family,
Thank you so much to all of you for all of your emails, texts, and phone calls as you check in with us after Hurricane Ian ravaged SW Florida. We evacuated Sanibel on Tuesday afternoon and have been safely hunkered down in Naples, FL at K's parents' house. We have two dogs and three guinea pigs with us. Sadly, we had to leave our four chickens behind. We thought we'd be gone 3, maybe 4 days and packed accordingly. Thankfully, I had the kids pack their most precious lovies; I had the sense somehow to grab the passports, external hard drives, and journals that I've kept for the kids since they were babies.
September 28 was one of the longest days of our lives. We literally sat in the dark watching the streets here in Naples fill with water, slowly making its way into the garage, praying it wouldn't rise the 3-feet into the house, all the while wondering what this hurricane was doing to our community on Sanibel.
We didn't have power for about 36 hours, which means we had very intermittent satellite connections for our phones. We had no idea about all that was happening in the SW Florida until late yesterday when the power finally came back on and we could finally see images. It's all incredibly heartbreaking and overwhelming.
Late last night, K found out he had an opportunity to get on a boat with a few friends and head over to Sanibel to check on the house. He left here at 6:30am, bringing a short list of things to grab to bring back with him. (FYI, evacuation lists don't generally have "school bags" on them! So some school binders/notebooks were on that list.) While he was gone, some friends sent through the link to satellite images of the damage; I could see that we had a roof, that our boat was still on the lift (we thought all the boats had floated away), and the rv was still in the driveway. We also learned that the Sanibel lighthouse was still standing (we thought it had blown down). All good news.
After a very long day, K returned around 4pm with pictures and news. We learned:
-The lower level of our home flooded and is wrecked; about 4-5 feet of water entered our lower level.
-Our landscaping took a big beating, including our beautiful, ancient banyan tree which has lost at least a third of its mass/branches.
-The upper two floors of the house are totally fine and intact.
-No windows or doors are broken.
-And, miraculously, 3 of 4 chickens survived. They are now free to roam Sanibel to their hearts content...
Unfortunately, our other house (that many of you have been to) over on Palm Lake Drive is ruined, irreparable. At least 5 feet of sea water filled that one-story house. That's our personal bad news. But the bad news continues to come in regarding friends' homes. It's all so terrible. And even what survived is at risk of mold and rot beyond remediation. Sanibel will never be the same.
But we trust that a new Sanibel is coming. I've never seen so many resilient people and spirits. It's awe-inspiring. When I see footage online of all the helpers, I start crying every time. People are bringing food and water to the rescue teams; they are working hard to continue to evacuate people.
I can't help but count the blessings in our lives despite the tragedy, find the sweet alongside the bitter, as my sister-in-law reminded me.
I'm grateful:
-For the angels who have blessed us immensely (Noah, Todd, Wess, and the countless friends and family who have checked on us and encouraged us)
-That we have a safe place to stay as long as we need to
-That K has such a great sense of humor
-That we're all healthy after a month of struggling with health
-For so many digital photos so I don't need to worry about salvaging paper photos
-That the kids are taking all of this in stride and rolling with the massive changes amazingly well
Thanks for sticking with me through the end of this post. I'm sorry for the impersonal nature of this update. But I am the world's worst and slowest texter and this is the easiest way to give a detailed update to the most people and not be on our phone's all day amidst still-spotty service.
We will be happy to continue to respond personally to texts, emails and phone calls. But wanted to get this update out sooner than later. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. Our prayers continue to go out to our friends and community who were impacted in such tremendous ways.
K wants to add...As the great theologian John Lennon of the Beatles said, "It will be alright in the end. If it's not alright, it's not the end." And as many angels said many times, "Don't be afraid."
All our love,
K, M, L, H, R and the dogs and guineas
A final prayer:
Those who know us well know how much we rely on the strength of God to guide us through the tough stuff and help us focus on the blessings in our lives. Without Christ, we are nothing. I read a beautiful prayer yesterday morning by one of my favorite authors, Shauna Niequist, from her book Savor in a reading called "Scary Headlines." May we all be full of grace, kindness and faith through whatever challenges we face, big or small. Here is the paraphrased version:
"Deep breath. On the days when I'm tempted to lie down on the ground and let the anxiety I feel about our world flatten me like a steamroller, instead I pray. I speak to God, sometimes out loud, often in the car, frequently in the shower. I ask for help about the things I don't understand. I ask for peace, and grace, and the ability to see outside myself. I pray for people who are at the mercy of the scary headlines...And I pray for the people who can solve these problems. I pray for a way through, a light at the end of the tunnel."
