Sunday, September 04, 2005
It appears that the organizations which are supposed to "save the day" are finally here and trying to do so. For many, it is too late. The reports that we have all seen are nothing short of horrific. People giving birth on bridges with only a pocket knife sterilized with a lighter to cut the cord, a wife carrying her spouse's dead body in a sheet through flooded streets, babies with no food or diapers.... it's stuff that until now only happened somewhere far, far away.The stories Scuba Steve told sounded like something from a movie. Hiding behind truck tires, weapon in hand, just waiting for their orders...One MRE a day and a limited supply of water... It sounds like the story of a soldier gone to war, not a rural police officer trying to rescue people from a natural disaster.
Thank you to all who have donated money to the Red Cross, clothes to the Salvation Army, and volunteered your time. You have no idea what a difference it makes to these people.
Yesterday Hooker cried her eyes out. Not for someone's loss, but instead for the generosity that people show in times like this. At our local state park, hundreds of displaced people took shelter in cabins. Local people heard that one girl would be celebrating her 12th birthday out there with no big fanfare. Businesses were called and before they knew it, 2 large sheet cakes (big enough to feed all the people at the park) were delivered, along with decorations, and tons of presents donated by local people. The party was a surprise and when the girl was brought out, her eyes filled with tears and she thanked everyone for the party that she thought she wouldn't be having this year.
Out of tragedy, the human spirit always seems to amaze me. People are so generous and their willingness to help without even the thought of anything in return makes me glad to be a part of this whole thing.
One person did get something in return though, Hooker has been volunteering since Tuesday at a makeshift nursing home. She gets there after school (around 12 pm) and stays till around 9 pm. She has bathed people, changed diapers, fed them, and went and spent her own money to buy gowns, houseshoes and toiletry items for them. I have been so proud of her. Yesterday, she was offered a job there for the duration of their stay. She had been looking for a job for about a month, and these people had no idea. They wanted to reward her for all of her help, and when money became available for them to hire, she was their first choice. Even better, another local nursing home who has been helping by sending staff members, told her that when these people went back down south, she had a job with them waiting.
So, when you least expect it, you get the best rewards without expecting them.
Keep praying, they need it.....
Melissa |
~IntrO~
Melissa-Mom to LittleMan (4/04); wife to LuckyHusband; full-time toxicologist; full-time housekeeper; full-time domestic laundromat manager (washes all the clothes); full-time domestic finance manager (pays all the bills and yells at husband for spending too much money on fishing stuff); and Keeper of the Cheerios. Lives in a tiny town; spends tons of time with family; reads; enjoys crafts. Can change a diaper, fill a sippy cup, and put on a toddler's shoes in 15.4 seconds flat, all while calculating the impact of petroleum hydrocarbons to a nearby surface water body (watch for me in the Toddler Olympics on CBS this fall). Addicted to Dr. Pepper; Kit Kats; and pasta. To spot me in a crowd: I'm the one with frizzy messed-up hair, smeared graham crackers on my shirt; huge purse with a diaper peeking out, toddler on her hip, and camera in hand at all times.
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~Books I'm Reading~
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Shopaholic Takes Manhattan
Can You Keep a Secret?
Shopaholic Ties the Knot
Shopaholic and Sister
The Nanny Diaries
Nighttime is My Time - Mary Higgins Clark
Trace - Patricia Cornwell
She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb
Saving Graces - Patricia Gaffney
Save Karyn - Karyn Boznack
Rosie Dunne - Cecelia Ahern
Little Earthquakes - Jennifer Weiner
The Undomestic Goddess - Sophie Kinsella
In Her Shoes - Jennifer Weiner
One Tuesday Morning - Karen Kingsbury
The Pot Luck Club
P.S. I Love You - Cecelia Ahern
No Place Like Home- Mary Higgins Clark
The Covanent - Beverly Lewis
The Betrayal - Beverly Lewis
The Sacrifice - Beverly Lewis
The Prodigal - Beverly Lewis
Goodnight Nobody - Jennifer Weiner
The Preacher's Daughter - Beverly Lewis
~Books I Have For Sale-Ask If Interested!~
No Place Like Home- Mary Higgins ClarkRosie Dunne - Cecelia Ahern
The Last Juror - John Grisham