We imagined the 30th would be like every other Tuesday as a New Yorker; lots to do with barely anytime to do it. I had a very successful career as a financial adviser and my husband was a history teacher at the local high school. We brought three beautiful girls into the world with the names Gloria, Anna, and Stephanie. It was late October and all you could see on the news was the slew of different colors forming on the radar that was given the name Hurricane Sandy. My family had never been too seriously affected by past storms, so we weren't overly worried for this one. Sure we had our fair share of flooded basements but who hasn't?! Little did we know, Sandy was about to flip our world upside down in a matter of only a couple hours.
Candles, water bottles, and some food were the only things we bought at the grocery store to prepare. We set up the candles throughout the house just in case the power went out like it usually does during bad storms. It was a Monday night, and the principal of our daughters elementary school called the home phone to inform us that school had been cancelled for Tuesday just to be proactive towards the oncoming storm. Of course our girls screeched with excitement because a day without school is a day full of endless adventures to three little girls. Finally it came time to put the girls to bed, and the only worry I had was having enough time to watch my favorite TV dramas and getting to bed at a reasonable hour.
Cars flipping, houses being destroyed, people screaming for their lives, and flooding everywhere are just some of the things we heard on the 30th. It was a brutal awakening that Tuesday as Sandy completely destroyed what we used to call home. That day, our home washed away with the other thousands that Sandy had taken with her. Although I wanted to be upset and frustrated that this happened to us, I came to realize that we were actually very fortunate. Not only did I make it out alive, my entire family did as well. Sure, we had some bumps and bruises and maybe a couple broken limbs.......but all that mattered to me was God kept all of us on this earth together.
32. 32 of our fellow New Yorkers lost their lives that day. This number consisted of fathers, mothers, grandparents, even children. Not only did Sandy take away innocent lives, she also reached 2 billion dollars worth of damage to our city. The damage consisted of destroyed schools, cars, homes, work places, and so much more.
Hopelessness was being worn by everyone in the city. It seemed as if all the damage was irreparable. My husband and I came to realize that both of our jobs were gone because our buildings were no longer standing, and our daughter's school was washed away with everything else. We spent our first couple days mourning with everyone in our neighborhood who were going through all the same things as us. We finally came to a conclusion that we needed to start rebuilding what we all used to have. Although it took months to repair, one by one, our lives started to piece back together.
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