Just A Few Things Have Happened

 Catching Up Since September 8th

Well friends, it's been a minute hasn't it?! Seven weeks to be exact. And I have to confess that a WHOLE lot has been going on during that time in my life. And most of it not good, although I will testify that many blessings have occurred during these seven weeks. And God has met our every need along the way.

When I left off on September 8th, I had experienced my first cataract surgery and had, unfortunately, caught Covid. My husband caught it too. Thankfully, we both recovered well although I had to have a rebound case like I had two years ago. So, in essence, I had Covid twice. Not fun but we both got over it just fine.

Then, Hurricane Helene came along. September 27th, 2024 will forever be burned into my memory. You see, we don't have hurricanes in Asheville, NC where I live. Not until this year. A category 3 hurricane hit us full force bringing destruction with it. You name it-Asheville and Western North Carolina got it-hurricane force winds, torrential rains, floods, landslides and tornadoes. As my husband and I and our fur family huddled in our basement, a tornado hit our house piling trees up on our roof and around all sides of our house. It was a surreal time and an incredibly frightening time but, praise God, we survived! When it was all over, my husband had to cut us out of our house as all exits were blocked by trees. Our driveway, which is 1/10 mile long, was totally covered in trees as was our road. What followed was days of fear and worry as we were completely stuck and unable to get out, we learned via radio how bad things were in Asheville, there was no power, no water, no help forthcoming on our road except help from neighbors just as stuck as ourselves. Day after day, neighbors would climb over and under trees to get to each other's houses to check on one another. The Mr. climbed over and under trees for days to get to our stream to collect stream water so we could flush our toilets. We had collected drinking water before the hurricane hit but, after learning that the entire water supply for the city of Asheville had been compromised by storm damage, we began to collect water from an underground stream that flowed out from underneath our house because we didn't know how long it might be before we could get drinking water. We learned that there had been landslides further up our road and we watched helicopters do air evacuations of neighbors who live above us. Finally, after about 5 days of wondering if we would ever get out of our driveway volunteers with chainsaws made it up our road and a friend brought a crew to cut us out of our driveway. I'll tell more about these times in another post. About how surreal Asheville was at that time with no stores open and emergency personnel everywhere and wonderful volunteers who came from many different states to help. Truly, many wonderful things happened during those days. But, for now, let me continue with the catching up.

About a week after the hurricane/tornado hit, things were beginning to look a tiny bit better. Still no water or electricity but we could drive out on our road. I decided one morning to take our dog, River, for a walk to help out The Mr. who was talking on the phone. Long story short, River pulled, my left foot rolled on storm debris, I lost my balance and down I went falling on my right outstretched hand. I knew immediately my wrist was broken. The Mr. took me to the emergency department where I was given a splint and then a few days later I was given a cast by an orthopedist. My re-check a couple weeks later revealed that my bones were not in alignment and I was scheduled for surgery the next day. So here I am, two weeks after that surgery doing well and in a brace for the next month. Hopefully, I will be ready at that point for physical therapy. 

So, that's what has been happening folks. It has been quite the few weeks/months and that is why you haven't heard from me on the blog. It's quite laborious to type with one hand in a brace but I am persevering. I also did finally get my second cataract surgery a week ago and am in the in-between time when I am waiting for the next appointment to get the go ahead for a new glasses prescription. My current glasses aren't the best for my eyesight right now but I am getting by the best I can. 

I keep thinking about my words of the year-courage and contentment-and how these words have really come into play these last three months or so. I won't lie. This has been a very trying time for me. I have really relied on my faith during these times to get through many challenging situations. I have been touched by the kindness of others and have been reminded how small I really am in terms of the world. Others have suffered much more than my family and I. There are families in our area who have lost loved ones and have lost everything they own. As communities, we are standing together and rebuilding that which was lost. We still don't have potable water anywhere in Asheville but, thankfully, we have non-potable water coming from our faucets so we can flush, shower and do laundry now. We are Western North Carolina Strong and we will get through this difficult time with faith, strength and resilience. Having courage and being content with all that has happened has sustained me these last weeks. Prayers are very much appreciated!

I'm happy to be back blogging and pray that each of you dear readers is well and safe wherever you are in the world. May each of you feel God's richest blessings!

Until Next Time,

Debbie