The Silver Lining

My 73-year-old grandfather held the door shut. For three hours.

The wind and rain did their best to wear him down.

My 2-year-old clung to me, but stayed calm.

We were in the hallway and we watched water pour in from the window.

To this day I wake up in the middle of the night with panic attacks.

Some days the anxiety is unbearable. My boyfriend talks me down. He helps me stay calm.

We never thought about evacuating.

I have too many family members here who were too stubborn to leave.

When it was safe, we went to my apartment and the whole ceiling had fallen in.

All of our belongings were destroyed and black mold covered the walls.

We didn’t have renter’s insurance.

We talked about moving.

We could go to his family in the Northeast, but it is expensive and we didn’t know how long it would take to find a job.

So, we just decided to stay.

My boyfriend does construction. He has been working 10 hour shifts, 6 days a week. Its been crazy.

The restaurant where I work is still standing. When I saw it, I cried.

When you see so many buildings that have been destroyed you wonder why some were spared.

My shifts have been insanely busy. We are the first place you hit coming in from Mexico Beach. We have no shortage of customers. Construction workers and FEMA employees are now my regulars.

I was talking one day at work about finding a house. A customer said he had a house in St. Andrews he would sell me.

We had filed a claim with FEMA and got some money we could use as a down payment.

Owning a home has been our dream. I always wanted a big family and a house that we could all feel safe in.

Now we have it.

I hate to say it, but its because of the hurricane.