Homeless but not Helpless!

Mom and Aunti Esther - ALIVE and WELL!

You all know that I try to look at the bright side of any situation - so before I go any further - here is the bright side...Mom and Aunti Esther are  fine...totally un-singed! Truthfully, they are both as tired as I have ever seen them, but they have been through hell - fire and all.

Robbie and Maggie are being very gracious hosts and are doing a great job driving them here and there and making sure that they eat. Robbie was nice enough to pick me up from the airport and didn't complain once about how far Houston Hobby Airport is from his house  - it took us almost 2 hours to get to his house from the airport during Thursday rush hour. (That's the airport that Southwest flies into...oops!) Anyway, Aunti Esther has a good son in Robbie and I think he will be very helpful in dealing with the insurance company. He has driven her out to Magnolia every time there was even a remote possibility that they could get in to see the property. Unfortunately, the fires are still not contained and the police are not letting anyone in - even when Maggie offered the police officers ice cold beverages and lunch! She's a hoot and quite a funny gal!

Mom is doing better than I thought she would. She only really teared up once or twice and considering how emotional she usually is, that's saying a lot. She is tired because she isn't sleeping well, but she is managing her MS symptoms fairly well. The day before I got there, she got the good news that her MRI showed no progression of the MS. See there - something else to be grateful about! She is incredibly sad about the loss of all her photos and a quilt I made for her a few years ago, but I kept reminding her that she made it out safely and that is the most important thing. Photos and quilts are replaceable - people - not so much! As long as the rest of us were reminding her how lucky they were to get out of there safely, she was ok. I imagine that she will continue to need to be reminded in the difficult days ahead.

Aunti Esther is the one who amazes me. It was her house that burned to the ground, after all. When I talked to her on the phone before going out there, she kept telling me "It was only a house...they were only things." She did finally have a good cry before I got there, but she was over it by the time I saw her. She had a bit of a laugh and told me, "Laura Lynn, we're homeless, but we're not indigent!" Every so often I would see her or Mom looking off into the distance with the saddest looks on their faces. Aunti would say to Mom, "Oh, Patsy, my purse that Robbie made me..." Mom kept doing the same thing. "Oh, Esther, all my books..." They kept remembering one thing after another that they had lost in the fire. But Aunti is a trooper and she is already making plans - she is a mover and a shaker even at 77 years old. She is sad but has accepted the loss and is ready to move on to the next phase of her life. I only wish that I will be that strong in the face of adversity.

It was a short visit for me, but we got some things accomplished. I brought Mom some things from home and took her shopping for a few things. Since she and Aunti only had 20 minutes to grab things before they were forced out of the house by fire and police officers, Mom made it out of the house with her meds, the shoes on her feet, a couple of the mu-mu dresses she like to wear, her purse, one pair of eyeglasses and her car. That's it! Trying to make Mom smile I told her, "OK, Mom. You've been through fire and flood. Now all that's left is famine!"

So, our Golden Girls have some decisions to make. They are starting with a clean slate. Now, what do they do...where should they live? They have time to think about it. In the meantime, I want to send hugs and kisses to family and friends who have been so loving and supportive. It has really lifted their spirits to know that so many people care and love them! Thanks, Everyone! We love you, too!