Over a Month after Helene
*Caveat: I want to hold up all the people that lost homes, loved one and lives during this storm. if you are a praying person then send prayers up for those people. I was EXTREMELY lucky/blessed to only haven been what I identified as ‘inconvenienced’, because really when you break it down that is all it was. I was traumatized by my experiences and my own shadow resurfacing in unexpected ways but my physical experience was one of privilege in this great time of transformation for the Asheville area and its inhabitants. I am grateful that I faired so well.
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It is difficult to parse out what I want to share in this blog since there is so very much, so many experiences, so many shadows and transformations, so much that has transpired in me and around me since Hurricane Helene hit the Asheville and Leicester, NC, where I live, areas on September 27, 2024. So this is more of an update.
Day 15 we got power back which enabled me to then have cell phone and internet and water from my well, but I had to wait 3 more days for the water to clear testing. So, Day 19 I had potable water to use to drink, wash my hands, wash dishes, shower, and wash clothes! YAYYYYY!
It was like coming out of the 1800’s back into the 21st century and it was disorienting to say the least.
My dear friend accurately calls it living on the Prairie. She still doesn’t have potable water at her home at Day 34!
Even though it had been less than 3 weeks, on Day 19 I finally had power, water, internet and cell, it took a while to return to feeling normal. In truth, it took another 10 days for me to trust that all was really heading back to normal. My grocery store finally today, Day 34, was almost fully stocked with groceries. Less than a week ago I was finally able to get mayonnaise, ketchup, butter, and other condiments, around Day 28, 4 whole weeks.
It was surprising that not being able to get condiments was a measuring stick for me for normality, for thriving even. Once I had them again and saw they were available in abundance at the grocery store something inside of me relaxed as I placed them in their spot in my now working refrigerator. My nervous system seemed to sigh and relax into another level of safety.
As a child I was raised in poverty. We lived in Section 8 housing though it wasn’t called that back then, it was called The Projects. We moved every 6 - 12 months and we had food stamps back when they were actual paper coupon books that you took to the store and paid with. But even then, we had condiments. When we were eating only fried potatoes for dinner we had ketchup to go with them.
4 weeks without ketchup was a real marker for me, it was something I could translate into measurable normalcy. And once I had ketchup, and mustard, and butter in my fridge, my state of being in my home was on the uptick, shifting from nothing to enough. I felt safer, more stable than I had been and it felt more reliable. It may seem silly but for me it made a huge difference.
As an update from my last blog post, I know many of you are interested, I talked about Days 1-3 in the last post and how alone and frightened I felt. On Day 4, I began searching out people on the street I live on, asking more questions, seeing what they needed and what I could share – an extra jar of peanut butter in exchange for toilet water - and getting to know my neighbors a little more with each conversation. I was determined to create/find friends around my home, if possible. (I found some, you will see at the end.)
Finally, around Day 7 I found toilet water consistently from then on. That was a huge relief!
On Day 5 George was able to get supplies to me, cases of bottled water, canned foods like beanie weenies, spaghetti Os, fruit cups and things I could eat cold right out of the container because I had no power to heat anything up and wouldn’t until Day 19. He brought disposable cups and utensils because I couldn’t wash dishes. Paper towels because I couldn’t wash towels and baby wipes to help with bathing. He brought water coolers with water so I could wash my hands, wipe counters, and wash my hair. The item that most suprised me for it’s necessity was the storm radio! I was finally able to hear what was happening in the area. It was a true GodSend.
George was a hero. He was also able to borrow a generator and bring it with some gas so I could finally sleep with my CPAP machine. That was definitely a Godsend as I hadn’t been able to sleep more than a few minutes at a time for the previous nights since the power had been out.
I made up bags of supplies and cases of water for neighbors and friends who needed them too and gave them out. I was in a deep state of group survival and George reminded me to make sure to keep enough for myself for more than a few days, which was where my head was.
This picture is what I kept for myself. I gave away 3-4 times that much and even ended up giving away all the carrots from this picture too.
For context about the water and how needed it was, up until that time I had used about 1 gallon of water total for all of my hand washing, bathing, drinking, etc. needs for the entire 5 days up until then.
FEMA allocates 3 gallons of water a day, per person for basic needs. I should have gone through 15 gallons by that time but I had only used about 1. To say the least, I was really dehydrated and ended up with a UTI because of it, but that is another story.
(I took this picture as George was bringing in supplies on Day 5. This is a 2.5 Gallon container.)
I was still in a state of shock and running off of adrenaline when he arrived. I don’t think I mentioned this before but immediately after the storm on September 27th I could hear water running in the basement so I went down to check on everything. My flashlight stopped working and I fell down the stairs, really hurting myself.
I am so grateful that I didn’t break anything, but I ripped and strained/sprained all the muscles from my hip to my toes on my left side, as that leg stayed on the stair as I missed the next 2 steps and did a split down the stairs. Bruised and hurt I gathered myself once I realized nothing was broken and inspected the basement, so thankful that we had installed the waterproofing system in the basement with the sump pump. We didn’t have a battery backup so I had to scoop out and lug about 6 gallons of water from the pump basin so it didn’t over flow.
That was really difficult with the pain in my hip, leg, knee, ankle and toes but it had to be done, just like hauling toilet water everyday turned out to be. It hurt a lot but had to be done.
And I know you are going to ask, did I see a doctor? No. I couldn’t get out of my street for days. Then when I could my injuries weren’t emergent so I wouldn’t go to the emergency room as there were real life-threatening injuries that needed care there.
As the weeks passed, my doctor’s office was still closed, the Urgent Care didn’t take my insurance and when I got to Atlanta for a 6-day respite, no one there took my insurance either. It was 4 weeks before I could get into my doctor and by then George had gotten me wraps for my knee and ankle and when I arrived at his home on Day 15, I was able to ice it all and then take a hot bath which helped a lot. I also wasn’t having to haul heavy buckets of water around to flush my toilets while I was there. That helped too.
This past Monday, Day 31, I finally got to see a doctor and started physical therapy. It will all get back to normal soon too.
So that’s it for the update for now. There are lots more stories I will share. I made friends with the family next door who are about my kid’s ages and they have 3 daughters a little older than my grandchildren. It has been nice sharing conversations and visiting together. We gave them supplies of food, water, and everything George brought during the days and weeks to follow. They have brought me over dinner. I told you I found some friends in my neighborhood. Yayyyy! I am so blessed.
Thank you to all of you who reached out to send love and support, to send me connections to local groups of like-minded people and who purchased jewelry and Akashic Records sessions during the sale. I am so honored and blessed to have you in my life! The sale is still on so if you want a session at a big discount, go ahead and get it now.
THIS IS GOING TO BE MY LAST SALE EVER ON MY AKASHIC RECORDS SESSIONS! I won’t be offering these sessions on sale again in the future so if you want the discount now is the time!
I am so very grateful for you! If you want to find out more about the sale and how you can support, you can do that at the bottom of the last Blog post HERE. Don’t forget to use the Coupon Codes!
If you don’t want a session there are still other ways to support too. There are some lovely jewelry pieces available for holiday season gifts priced from $7 to $247. Here is a video of me packing an order last week for a very special mentor who I am so grateful for. She bought these items as gifts for the holidays. Now is the time to order them so you get them in plenty of time for you to give this holiday season. Shop HERE.
