Well I don't know if you all remember or not, but on September 13, 2008 hurricane Ike made landfall in Galveston, Texas. You also may remember that my mom moved from the Ham to Galveston in Spring of 2006 in pursue a dream of love and fresh start to life.
Somehow I don't think she envisioned fleeing her home from a hurricane as part of that dream.
Oh well...such is life.
I remember now talking to her prior to Ike's landfall. I remember trying to talk her into evacuating. At first she didn't want to battle the traffic and they didn't have a place to stay. I remember Leo (my mom's new hubby) was extremely resistant to evacuating. After all he had lived on the island his entire life and never once suffered a severe hurricane. I can understand their lives were based in Galveston. It was the city that brought them together. It was a major decision for mom to move into a tiny house built in the 30's from a nicer house in Alabama. To leave her friends and family of 25 years behind. They didn't want to evacuate it. Eventually the Mayor's Office issued a fairly stern warning to all Galveston residents that their lives would be in jeopardy if they didn't flee...fortunately my folks decided they were convinced.
Ike made landfall and literally wiped out the island. Going back now it looks completely different. Houses and major landmarks and now empty lots. There are work trucks and debris piles everywhere. My moms house took over a foot of water, and the house is five feet off of the ground. That's six feet of water 20 blocks from the ocean. That is a significant tidal surge.
Needless to say my folks have been "homeless" since then. They had rented a sub-par one bedroom place in Texas City while the renovations on their house took place.
It has been a stressful year for my parents. Not only did they lose priceless possessions in the storm, they've also been pushed to the limits with their marriage. The contracting company that they signed with has proven to be a brood of vipers: over-charging for simple tasks, lying about payment to subcontractors, refusing to finish jobs, etc. So far one lien has been placed on the house because the company hasn't paid their bonding company. I'm sure my parents will be forced into court to resolve the matter. In the end my parents have got their ducks in a row and they'll be fine, but the stress of dealing with such dishonesty in the wake of a tragedy is truly a pain in the ass. I feel bad for them.
So I pray for them.
I went and helped them move back into the house this last weekend. It was a stressful trip full of manual labor, but ultimately a joyful one too. I was glad to see them back in their home after all of the drama. Though it wasn't constant hugs and kisses my parents seem to be doing well and I know they're looking forward to adjusting back to their routine.
Still they have suffered a great loss they may never fully recover from. It just brings to mind this verse in Mathew 6. The gist is this "Don't waste time building wealth in money or possessions, its all going to be garbage someday anyway" (The Zaner Standard Version).
So the odd thing about the house is they basically got a free upgrade. The house need to be renovated big time, and the insurance came through in a big way on that. The biggest cost of the whole ordeal will be the months of stress and fighting.
And I'm left here thinking is it worth it? I mean sure they have a nice house, but they could have easily moved somewhere else. They could have moved to Houston or Texas City or Kansas or Bama. All of those options wouldn't have strained their marriage as much. Its all just stuff...
I wonder what it would be like if we would stand on the outside of our lives and ask ourselves if all of this is really necessary. We live in the most consumer-centric nation in the world. We've become creatures of stuff. And I'm guilty of this too.
I just think it could all be different you know.
