This weekend has been filled with all the feels and I mean ALL of them. After a very full week of stained glass we landed upon the one year anniversary of Helene, an historic natural disaster. I was not planning to see videos and pictures of the aftermath I had never seen. My FB feed was full of new to me footage. I had not seen much of the damage because I was in the mountains so much and I had no cell service. When in Huntersville I was focused on collecting the supplies you and many others sent to our home and hauling them to the mountains every few days. While I am aware of the aftermath I had not seen the real time flooding. I walked through the trauma all over again because much of it was new to me. It has shaken me.

Yesterday we went to the town square that held daily meetings and announcements for weeks following Helene. The square was where we found those understanding our emotions and also where we found supplies, resources and advice. The town square represented hope and recovery.

Yesterday we walked among strangers who silently understood. We didn’t need to speak. Those with whom we locked eyes, saw the grief, the gratitude and the hope. We sang and swayed to live music, visited the on site counseling as well as free fairy hair from Mountain Fairy Hair, free face painters, free ice cream from The Hop and free balloon artists. We ended the day with a couple of my besties (I found because of Helene) for chili, my homemade apple pie and a crazy competitive game of Apples to Apples.

This morning we were greeters at our home church in Asheville, House of Mercy, Asheville. It was good to be among those we bonded with post Helene. We all understood the spectrum of emotions flowing from the waters of Helene. We embraced, we held tightly and our pastor reminded us that when we walk through the suffering together we find love. His words rang true with me. I found love and I worshipped with people I love, trust and depend upon.

This afternoon our little neighborhood gathered for our annual fall picnic under a gazebo that required repairs following Helene. We expressed our gratitude for the larger community, YOU, who answered my calls for help and supplies in those immediate weeks. We were reminded of the horrific coffee Johnny attempted to make until you sent French Presses. We remembered the crazy meals we ate when we had to cook the last of the safe perishables in our refrigerators. We remembered the farm fresh unwashed eggs you supplied which needed no refrigeration and provided protein rich foods for us for weeks. We also learned how to take each others leftovers home instead of taking our own uneaten food home. After we ate, each of us filled our to go boxes with full meals for those unable to come as well as each other.

Helene brought so much in so many ways. She destroyed our land, homes and many livelihoods. What we have witnessed in the recovery is determination, resilience and love.

We are rising from the waters that tried to drown us. We will recover… better, smarter and stronger because we do it together.

What a weird time. Fall Craft week for me was weird. I was distracted, never found my groove and actually gave up on the last piece I was working on. I think my head was full of the horror that struck WNC on Sept 27th.

Last year we went to Ingles and bought a ton of perishables as did everyone in line around us. I came home and made a huge pot of chili. It’s worth repeating, if you have any chance of losing water and the ability to flush toilets, eating chili for days (we reheated it in the flattop) is a HORRIBLE idea! We drove around Montreat to see the water levels and headed home. We had NO idea. I remember putting my phone on charge around 10 pm because the news said we might lose power. Neighbors a half mile from us were under mandatory evacuations. Still… no CLUE what was headed our way.

Tonight we are facing another storm and we are being warned to prepare. It doesn’t take much to rattle us and our community. Today we went to the grocery store and stocked up on water, batteries and protein heavy soups. I made sure we have plenty of peanut butter crackers, granola bars and farm fresh unwashed eggs that will be good left out. I was at Walmart tonight and the cashier told me the trends today are exactly like Sept 26th. An early evening surge of shoppers and a run on items preparing for power loss. Is it because hurricanes are brewing or is it PTSD? Both.

Everywhere we went today people were talking about the weather, wishing people luck and safety. We don’t take a storm of any magnitude lightly. One lady told me that her FEMA money JUST came through this week. This! This is why we are fed up, displaced and surrounded by debris. The road to our home still has one home split in half and perched in the creek and one home leaning in a ditch. Many have been condemned and sit abandoned and overgrown. One condemed home was finally leveled last week and the debris hauled away. One home under repair has a camper behind it where the family is temporarily living. Somewhere there are people who called those places homes. Where are they? Did they make it to higher ground? Was their insurance enough to cover any part of their loss? Did FEMA come through for them or is FEMA holding out on them?

There are so many stories on all spectrums. Those who lost everything, those who lost nothing and everything in between. It has taken me a full year to admit out loud my life is better post Helene. In the recovery I saw genuine and raw humanity. I saw those in need and many of you fulfilling the tangible things my neighbors needed. I saw the goodness of strangers. I found people I now call my best friends. A couple of them are coming over for dinner tomorrow night. I’m making chili because I’m turning the page on Helene, shoving it in her face and turning the page on the last year. It’s time for a new chapter.

We have more heart. We are stronger. We will survive.