My last post was about spending some fun family bonding time up in Park City. It was so much fun to play games, (including extreme hide and go seek and a little game we like to call werewolf) watch movies, stay up late, eat yummy food, hot tub, watch some baseball, and just be together as a family. When it was time to go home I was a little bummed out because who wants that much fun to end ever? But being a family is more a than playing games and hanging out.
My sister came back from this trip full of fun to a flooded home. The reason for this fun trip to PC was because all of the kids were out of school for Spring Break and my sister and her family had been gone for several days of flooding. Needless to say it was horrible. My mother was actually the first on the scene. She was bringing some things home for my sister and arrived even before they did. She found the flood called the fire department and started to bring up everything she could from the basement.
We as a family rushed to get there but were beat by several neighbors and friends that rushed over to help as soon as they saw the fire trucks pull up. There was so much work to be done but there were so many helping hands. When I arrived my sister was crying. I assumed that it was because her basement was full of muddy water and her belongings were soaking wet in piles in the garage. I instantly threw my arms around her to tell her it would be alright, we would fix it. Through her tears she managed to say "I know, I know. But just look at all of my neighbors who were here even before I was." It was then I realized that as terrible as the situation was my sister was crying because she was overwhelmed by the love of those around her so willing and eager to help. She held herself together so well dealing with all of the stress directing us in what needed to be done.
There was lots of sorting and drying to be done outside. Parker and I helped down stairs cutting and hauling wet carpet. I could not believe how much water was still there, because by that time they had been pumping it out for over an hour. The only other time I saw my sister get choked up was when she saw how soaked Parker was from moving the wet carpet. He tried to tell her that of course we were going to be helping and that we were happy to do so, but all she could say was "but you are all wet." I am sure that there were several other instances that day when my sister expressed extreme gratitude to everyone there.
This experience really moved me. The disaster of the flood is no where near over. There is still so much to be done before my sisters home will be put back together. I am amazed by her positive outlook and the way that her family is handling everything. I had to write this down. I had to try and convey some of the feelings I feel when I see my family band together to handle the fast balls life throws at us. There is no way to say that the flood was fun bonding the way that PC was. It was quite the opposite. But that is what is so great about families. They aren't just there to play games and hang out. Because forever is going to be filled with all sorts of good, bad, and flooding.
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