When Hurricane Helena hit North Carolina recently, several mountain towns near Asheville were devastated by floods and mudslides. Houses were flooded. Roads were washed away. Power, water, communications and basic services were nonexistent.
People were stranded. If they were lucky, they had shelter and a few days supply of essentials. But with roads and bridges flooded or destroyed and most communications down, they couldn’t go anywhere to resupply or evacuate.
The news reported the usual tragic (and heartwarming) stories of people trapped on roofs, missing person, neighbors rescuing neighbors, volunteers organizing supply drops and the like.
Then there were the stories of the family rescues.
There were elderly parents whose adult children hadn’t heard from since before the hurricane.
There were adult children who managed to get a final text out to a parent or sibling in another state before losing cell service.
There were some who were on the phone giving real-time status updates as the flood waters rose.
And their families came to rescue them.
I read about parents, siblings and adult children who jumped in their vehicles and drove hundreds of miles from other states to help their family members. Once they arrived and found roads washed out, they hiked 10 or 20 miles through the mud, water and forest trails to reach their loved ones. They brought food, medicine and supplies. They carried their loved ones to safety. They guided the ones who couldn’t find their way out to safe areas.
Wow.
Just freaking wow.
I cannot imagine anyone in my family doing that for me.*
Most of my immediate family members could hardly be bothered to be civil to me, let alone help me.
As for rescuing me – not a chance.
Would I rescue them? Maybe. I’m certain I would have at one time. Now though, after decades of making the deliberate choice to estrange ourselves, perhaps I wouldn’t be their rescuer either.
So I’m not judging myself nor my “family”. It is what it is.
But I cannot help but express my admiration for those families that love each other enough to rescue each other. It is awe inspiring.
*My wife, my Aunt Essie and my Uncle Bob who are all deceased would have rescued me. I’ll be forever grateful for the time and love I shared with them.