Everybody is hurting, but remember, we are not alone
Words absoulutley escape me as I sit down to write this column. On Wednesday, October 10, I sat, first in my upstairs apartment, and then later, huddled with my dogs in the bathroom; I was beyond terrified. The horrific sounds coming from the other side of my walls from all over downtown sounded as if the city was screaming. For four straight hours, sounds of roofs ripping, tin tearing and scraping, glass exploding – it was absolutely unbearable. But, like all of us, we had no place to go – at that moment. We sat in the front room and watched the storm increase in its intensity; however, when the old fire departmen’s roof flew off and crashed into my office and when the police department’s roof flew over my house and impaled my truck, I stopped watching. For a brief moment I thought about going outside and snapping a photo, but as I opened the back door, a piece of lumber crashed into the Probation Office’s SUV. I stepped back, unlike Jim Cantore, and slammed the door shut with me insde.
The door did not open again until the next morning. At first light I walked outside, looked around and I am not ashamed to admit I cried like a baby. Every image of destruction caused even more tears to flow.
In trying to write this column, I found a post on Facebook by Dallas Burke; I can’t say anything any better that what he said.
Here it is.
“I’ve seen a lot of posts from people upset and saying ‘Donalsonville has been destroyed.’ That’s bull crap! A bunch of ‘stuff’ has been destroyed … ‘stuff’ that, yes, is important and has value BUT can be replaced. Donalsonville is NOT about the buildings or the trees, it’s about the PEOPLE. The PEOPLE survived, endured, and, if anything, have found a renewal of humanity under all of the debris. Donalsonville . . . the PEOPLE … will not and cannot be destroyed as long as they choose NOT to be! Yes, Michael was/is a difficult chapter in our history, but it’s not the LAST chapter. Yes, there are hard times ahead, but if you pay attention around you there are miracles, big and small, happening all around as the community heals. The only thing we have to do to not be ‘destroyed’ is, as it says in John 13:34-35 is to ‘love one another’. Do that, and Donalsonville will never be destroyed. God bless you all.” – Dallas Burke
Seminole County will indeed survive. We already have. We are going to hurt for a long time, but if we make the decision to hurt togehter and help to build a better tomorrow together, that at least to me, will make looking at all of this destruction possible without breaking into tears.
And when I am hurting, REM’s classic song always makes me feel a little better. Here are the words and I hope they work for you as well.
“Everybody Hurts”
When the day is long
And the night, the night is yours alone
When you’re sure you’ve had enough
Of this life, well hang on
Don’t let yourself go
‘Cause everybody cries
And everybody hurts sometimes
Sometimes everything is wrong
Now it’s time to sing along
When your day is night alone (Hold on, hold on)
If you feel like letting go (Hold on)
If you think you’ve had too much
Of this life, well hang on
‘Cause everybody hurts
Take comfort in your friends
Everybody hurts
Don’t throw your hand, oh no
Don’t throw your hand
If you feel like you’re alone
No, no, no, you are not alone
If you’re on your own in this life
The days and nights are long
When you think you’ve had too much of this life to hang on
Well, everybody hurts sometimes
Everybody cries
And everybody hurts sometimes
And everybody hurts sometimes
So hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on
Everybody hurts
No, no, no, no you are not alone!