Hurricane Matthew 2016 10-11-16

post Hurricane Matthew copyright AJ Horton 10-10-16 2016

Pre Hurricane Matthew Copyright October 29, 2015

Hello and happy Tuesday.  For the first time in more than a year and a half I missed posting my blog yesterday.  I may have a good reason for you.  We were being evacuated from our home in Mullins, SC, due to the effects of Hurricane Matthew.  We live in a small community, which has at least 3 entrances and now all entrances are under water - enough water that you can drive your motorboat through.   The bottom picture is from last year when we bought the house.  The top picture is as we were evacuating our house yesterday.  The boat you see is the tow boat carrying our little bit of possessions we were able to save.  The good people rescuing us (Marion Fire and Rescue) allowed us to also bring with us our cat and dog and we are so very grateful.  They were great to us, they are volunteers, and worked very hard to rescue everyone and worked very long hours to do so.  They made sure we made it to a shelter in Mullins and from there our grand daughter and her boyfriend drove three hours to pick us up from the shelter.  We were lucky because you can't take pets into the shelter, but it took so long to evacuate us and others, that we all made it to the shelter at about the same time. Once we got on the road, Chelsy and Erick drove us all the way to Charlotte, NC (another 3 or so hours) where Roxanne's daughter and family invited us to spend the night and get spoiled with no worries.  Jennie and Dan met us when we arrived with smiles and hugs and a nice bed for the night.  When we woke this morning, Jennie had made us a wonderful breakfast of eggs, pancakes and orange slices, along with coffee.  Later in the day, Dan took us to rent our cars.  We are in Candor, NC now and are very fortunate to have another home.  Many people do not, and we feel very sad for them and will do what we can as we rebuild to help them as well.

I must say that we received so much kindness and love through all of this - from our neighbors, the rescue team, the shelter, our family and friends that it has made me able to continue functioning and helped me realize that everything will be fine.  We'll be ok.  We'll carry on.  We'll be stronger.  We'll have more empathy for others.  We'll love more and we'll show more love to others.  

I hope you were able to feel love from others and show love for others today.  It is a great feeling and with love, nothing can keep us down.  Thank you for looking.  See you tomorrow.