helping a friend...

We spent the weekend ripping out the bottom two feet of drywall and insulation in the basement. Just thinking about hanging, taping, mudding, sanding, texturing and painting the new stuff about caused me to start hyperventilating. But just before I start to have a mental breakdown I think of my friend Becci.

By Friday afternoon I’d checked on my brother and sister, even my brother’s girlfriend. They were all fine. I was diving into a communication plan for Sep and Simple IRAs Friday afternoon when I realized Becci lived closer to the river than any of them. I shot her a text message asking if they were okay. Minutes later she wrote back. “Flooded. Lost everything.” I called her and found out they voluntarily evacuated Wednesday morning and have been staying with her mother-in-law. Thursday John had to borrow a boat to maneuver the four feet of water to check on the house. He looked in the window and saw Becci’s piano floating in the water. At this point there’s nothing I can do – there isn’t even really anything they can do until the water recedes.

Now thinking of the work that lays ahead of them makes my heart hurt. I really hope to get over there to help but between our clean up and the 4^th of July I’m not sure when it’ll happen. That might not be a bad thing. I’m sure they’ll have lots of help right away, but they may need more help after awhile when the volunteers thin out. It’s going to be a long process.

Many thanks to Ryan’s parents, sister, brother-in-law and nephew for helping us this weekend. And a thank-you in advance to the friends and family who have already volunteered to help. It feels good to know we’re loved.