I have been under the weather literally and figuratively for the last week, but today I am finally starting to see the sunshine. I haven’t felt much like writing and haven’t felt I had anything to say in view of the immense disaster this country was going through.
Today I think I am finally ready/able to write some words and reflections of the past week.
Like all of you, I was very overwhelmed as I continuously watched the scenario unfold. I went from ‘phsew’ they made it safe through the storm, to what! flooded!, oh no…to disbelief and mounting anger when the many monumental blunders of the whole relief effort were revealed to the eyes of the whole world.
Seemed to me like our Administration and government was stripped bare and the dirty little under belly of our current system was exposed for what it is. Here I still do not have words to describe how I feel about the system.
Pictures of the last week will long remain in my memory, but there were some images and scenes that struck me and touched my heart that I shall never forget.
The babies, I never saw such beautiful babies in my whole life and in such abundance, I wanted to hold and comfort each one of them as they swam into my view. I wanted to rush there and rescue them myself, hell, why couldn’t we get there I wondered, why couldn’t we drop food, why weren’t provisions and supplies placed in the shelters prior to the storm. Oh, I would have many questions as the weeks unfolded.
The children, I pictured my own there and knew how horrible it would be for them and my heart went out to them and the mothers, fathers and grandparents who had to witness this with their own children, rendered powerless to help, fix or change one damn thing. The only thing they could do was try to give love and comforting, not a little thing, but certainly not what they wished to do I am sure.
The children who could probably not comprehend what fate had befallen them, who were robbed forever of their childhood, I wanted to gather all in my arms and comfort them.
The elderly, and here I placed myself, what would it have been like for me sitting in the hot sun, sick with shingles, asthma, and god knows what else and perhaps to see my last days in the midst of thousands of suffering people. I don’t know how long I would have held up and wonder how they did, how any did. To die like that, sometimes alone and away from any dear family members, not the death I would ever imagine for myself, but now know it can happen to any one of us.
The parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who had to stand by and watch their children suffer and die and feel totally helpless to change one whit, one iota. How did they find the strength to go on.
The heroic people who rescued all those thousands of roof top and trapped victims, shall be forever etched in my mind. I watched with trepidation each rescue and rejoiced when they were finally safe in the helicopters. All the while anger and disgust building in me at the lack of the full force of our abilities being applied to this most desperate of situations.
The shelters that were immediately set up and fine tuned will forever stand in my mind as a beautiful example of what individual citizens and small groups of people can and do accomplish with an ease unknown to our vast and inept governmental system.
There are too many memories to count these days and I haven’t sorted them all out in my mind, but I know this, I shall never forget these days, and I shall never stop working to hold accountable all those involved in the absolute gross mismanagement of everything the government touched.
The strength of the people, our people our citizens has shone through it all and I will be forever proud of all the good and generous people who did aid and comfort all the homeless and afflicted. I know this country will survive because of that strength, the will to survive and to help.
What about you, how and why were you touched and angered in the last week, what thoughts have stuck with you and roamed around in your brain for days. What images will you never forget, what touched your heart?
(Cross posted on Village Blue.)
(The beautiful picture above is a ‘Josephine Wall’ and her gallery can be found here. Artist; Josephine Wall, web site here!)
