Today, I woke up and went to my neighbor’s (and husbands family’s) house and helped them sort through the wreckage and extract important documents, photographs, valuable salvageable items, and sentimental items from the wet, muddy, devastated remains of their once quaint home.
I held it together but, and I keep saying this, I am not okay. I am so sad for my family that lost everything, but I am so grateful that they are alive. I am not okay yet though.
I think it's gonna take a while at best. This is complicated grief for everyone. How many of us feel grateful and guilty, looking at ourselves and our neighbors?
I kind of want a small trophy or plaque for surviving 12 days without power or water but that means we need thousands of human-sized trophies for other people. I have to keep reminding myself not to compare, and that it's ok to cry about the trees.
I agree and like how you phrased it. I haven’t cried over trees but I have been sobbing for strangers. It’s a complicated grief. I feel guilty and selfish. I feel sad. I feel hopeful. I feel broken. I feel grateful. It’s a lot of feelings
Edit- also I want a plaque too, but preferably a big cookie that just looks like a plaque with a little sticker or something I can keep for the memory. Ever since this storm hit, I’ve been dying for a treat.
21
u/squidsquatchnugget The Boonies Oct 16 '24
Today, I woke up and went to my neighbor’s (and husbands family’s) house and helped them sort through the wreckage and extract important documents, photographs, valuable salvageable items, and sentimental items from the wet, muddy, devastated remains of their once quaint home.
I held it together but, and I keep saying this, I am not okay. I am so sad for my family that lost everything, but I am so grateful that they are alive. I am not okay yet though.