Hurricane Irma tore through Florida this past week, and her slow moving menace gave Tampa Bay residents ample time to prepare for its impending doom. And wait. And worry. And watch it’s forecasted path pendulum swing east and west, as its projected intensity fluctuated between mild and devastating. Family, friends and myself rode a roller coaster of emotions for seven arduous days as we tried to predict our fate of this mutating natural disaster. We became amateur weather professionals, analyzing radar and weather maps, trying to find a glimmer of hope that our beautiful city would be spared direct impact of Irma’s wrath.

I was in a minor emotional funk at the time Irma entered my life. My wife and I were spending the majority of our free time with “fun” friends, not realizing we were neglecting the relationships with our true friends.  A disagreement with our fun friends* and another with a family member sent my psyche into a downward spiral. I was lost in own my head, feeling that I had no one close to me aside from my wife, our pugs and cats (and frankly the cats can be fickle companions). Although my funk was entirely self-constructed, my head and heart were in a bad state.

…And then Irma came into my life.

My friends and family came together to support each other, as we did our best to prepare for impact. We shared information about where to find supplies, how to secure our homes and communicated our evacuation plans. I received texts and messages from friends and family all over the country, wishing us well.

My wife Danielle and I spent time with our local friends and family, sharing our fears and anxiety about the devastation that we potentially faced. It is little moments that make life special. It is taco night, drinking at our local watering hole and family dinners that make me smile when I look back on that week. It may sound like we were celebrating. But, we were trying to keep our minds distracted from worrying about a situation that we have no control over. And we were enjoying our lives as they were at the moment, in case the storm brought unwanted change. I felt reconnected with the important people in my life, which lifted my emotional fog.

The storm was scheduled to arrive in Tampa Bay late Sunday night, and by Sunday morning the various weather forecasts arrived at a unanimous consensus that Tampa Bay would sustain a direct hit. Irma would remain a dangerous category 4 hurricane when she arrived for her rendezvous in Tampa Bay. Danielle and I spent the day doing the things we do on an average Sunday, attempting to establish normalcy, on the most abnormal of days. We had a nice dinner with my parents, who were hosting us for the storm. And then we all sat down to brace for impact. We toggled our energy between watching the news and doing things to avoid the news, all while sipping on wine to numb our anxiety. By bedtime, the storm brought the normal wind and rain of a severe Florida thunderstorm, but nothing that appeared catastrophic. Then news outlets  began to cautiously report that the storm had subsided to a category 1, while changing course to go east of Tampa Bay. The storm brought weeklong power outages, ruined fences, downed trees and debris as far as the eye could see. But, most residents were safe and sound and that is all that mattered.

The next day we returned to our home. Our house sustained no major damage or flooding. We spent the day cleaning up yard debris and unpacking our belongings (convinced that our house would not survive, Danielle and I had brought all of our valuables to my parents house). The only thing lost was my emotional funk. When the evening came, Danielle and I reunited with our friends. Our favorite neighborhood bar decided to open, as the owner knew that “everyone needed a drink.” The place was packed with familiar faces, and we were greeted with hugs and warm wishes. It felt good to be back to living the lives that we loved, in a community that we cherished. The saying goes “home is where your heart is.” After the week of uncertainty came to a close… my head and my heart were finally home.

Visit this link to learn about ways to help Hurricane Irma and Harvey recovery efforts.

 

* Update 11/30/2017:  A person took offense to my classification of fun friends vs. genuine friends.  Please understand this was my perception as viewed through hurt eyes.  The terminology reflects how the situation made me feel.  I am sorry that this was taken harshly… and surprised that people actually read my writing. 😉