As you might not know, Miss Em, the younger of my hostages to fortune,* lives in Tuscaloosa. We were among the lucky ones: not only is she OK, but she was able to call on a friend's cellphone shortly after the storm passed through to tell us she was OK. She is now at a friend's house in a city less hard hit.
She called to say that she doesn't know what to do with herself. School is now over for the year (no finals). But one can't go live it up at Anthopologie when you've just left a place where friends--or friends of friends--may have died. Not to mention all the other ruin you witnessed. So what can you do to honor the people who suffered more than you did?
Well, I certainly don't know the answer to that one. Miss Em said, "It was easier after Katrina." True. We spent the days (no power) sitting around and sweating, walking downtown to see what the Red Cross was serving, getting all excited when we got granola bars. When we were lucky, we would drive to the Target parking lot and pick up goodies handed out by volunteers from all over. By goodies, I mean water.We couldn't do that very much because there was nowhere to buy gas. So we kept busy.
So what to do? All I can think of is to keep being frugal. By frugal I mean being mindful of resources, including, but not limited to money. What else can we do?
Any ideas?
*He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune, Francis Bacon.
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