September 4, 2004, a date that will live in infamy. Well, at least for me it will. 13 days prior to that I had given birth to my son via cesarean. After being discharged from the hospital on the 26 (I believe) I crawled into bed in pain and in a fog. My son was a blessing but feeding him was proving to be a problem. Without getting too graphic, God’s way of feeding children was not working out well. I was sleep deprived and my son was happier with a bottle in his mouth. I recall the news talk about a hurricane approaching. I also recall my every waking moment being full of diapers and bottles and pumping and all the other bits of being a brand new mom. I was a tad preoccupied. And I must admit, I was a bit weary of warnings to board up your house and store water and supplies.
I grew up in Florida and have vague recollections of what hurricanes meant for me. Hurricane David was a big to-do back in 1979 and was touted as a monster but to me it was a day off of school and a camp out at home. I think I slept through it. Hurricane Andrew in 1992 was a lot scarier. I lived on my own in the Ft.Lauderdale area and there we had wind that swayed metal street lights as if they were made of rubber. I rented an apartment and no one bothered to board any windows. I pushed my sofa up to my sliding glass door and recall stuffing my washer and dryer with all my photos and things I could NOT live without and huddled in a safe room for a few hours.
Fast forward to 2004, I guess I didn’t think that I had to be the one to prepare. My husband, never having been through a proper hurricane did not bother to fill up the bath tubs with water. By the time I realized nothing had been bought-no water, no food, no supplies, I was too tired to care and fell asleep. I awoke shortly thereafter to no power, no water, no toilet or showers. It was 2 weeks of no power and a much longer story I am writing here.
My point is: I pray that all those in the path of “IKE” heed the warnings and get out. I pray all those that need help, receive it. I pray that all those that will be suffering are helped. I pray that this hurricane brings people together in the spirit of goodness and grace. May God have mercy on Galveston tonight.

Blog & Photos Copyrighted 2008: S.Halpin/ PurpleMartins-R-Us.com