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 Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 11:01 pm
The following is an email I received from someone, who I proudly say, I love! Kim lived in Mississippi, right on the gulf coast. She lost absolutely everything. All that was left was a foundation and a roof. Oh, and three pairs of high heels, still together, under the roof. The day I heard about Katrina, I instantly was terrified. Why? I didn't know for sure. I knew Kim while a freshman in OK. We hadn't spoken in ages. But I knew I loved her, and that I could have lost her. This is what she wrote at New Years...
What I learned in 2005:
Things are "just" things, and stuff is "just" stuff.
Sometimes losing "everything" makes you realize just how much you have.
Friends are friends forever. Though years and space may separate you, the love is always there.
Sometimes you can count on people you never thought you could count on.
Sometimes forgiveness is easier than holding a grudge. After a while, that grudge gets really heavy.
The word "family" means more than blood. You accept the one you're born into, and then go out and fill in the blanks with people that love you despite the fact that you do not share the same DNA.
It's okay to cry. It's okay to mourn. It's okay to get angry.
Even more importantly, it's okay to hope.
People are stronger than they look.
Mother Nature can be a real b***h.
2005 was a rough year.
But I've learned more this year than probably any year before this.
Every lesson has gone straight to my heart.
Every kindness has been treasured.
Every word of encouragement has been appreciated.
May 2006 bring each of you an appreciation for all your blessings, and all your hardships.
Because though are blessings may at times be taken for granted,
it's through our hardships that we learn not only who loves us the most, but also, how strong we can be.
I remember the day she called me while sifting through rubble, it was to tell me that one of her 3 cats had survived. Both of us grown women were in tears, sobbing on the phone. Unfortunately the cat had turned wild from being alone and in such trama. But knowing she had lived lifted such an enormous weight off of us. I have learned much through Kim since the dissaster. Most of it is to live with what you have and be happy to have had it. For once it's gone, it's gone.
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Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 11:09 pm
There is more...
This is something else from Kim:
God has a way of reminding us from time to time what is most important.
Sometimes he does it by taking it away.
But when we are fortunate, he does it by taking away everything else............
THat statement says a lot!!
THis is Kim's email: Maidjaded@aol.com
I have tried in sooooo many ways to get her to visit here or the yahoo couch. Mainly just to get her to chat. I think you would all love her as much as I do. We are very close in personalities. That is when she is behaving...
I don't know if she gets to check her email often, but if any of you feel like writing to her, I think she would enjoy it. She misses a lot, more than what she will ever admit too. Just be sure to tell her that Barbie sent ya!!! SHe would definately get a kick out of it!!
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Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 1:33 pm
Wow! Talk about killing something...
I was kinda hoping this would get some comment on. I have been so upset and kind of at a loss over Kim's situation, I wanted the chance to talk about it.
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Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 6:11 pm
i agree with those statements ....i learned my lesson back in my senior year of school when my house burned down....
how is she doing...have they been able to salvage anything and are they rebuilding?
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 1:18 pm
Kim is doing ok. She is living in a trailer (tin can) that DuPont has provided on their property. So she is working, but during her time off, she is still helping out with the Red Cross and others...
As for rebuilding, I don't know for sure. I think her and her girlfriend are still debating if they still want to live there now. Salvage was non-existant, nothing was left but those shoes... (or so I'm told) I'm sure what was left was so badly destroyed that it wasn't wanted anyhow.
It's funny, just months before this happened, she had come across all the cards I had sent her just after I moved away. She put them in a large envelope and sent them to me to see again. So unlike what I would have normally done, I sent them back to her quickly so that she could put them away again. But now they are gone. If only I had forgotten them and kept them a little bit longer, we would still have them. The brighter side of this is that we both got to see them one last time. So they are still fresh in our minds and hearts. So now I just have to get started again and mail a whole pile of new ones. As soon as she has a stable address to mail to. They were also given PO boxes, but I hate mailing personal things to those things. At least a lot of personal things...
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 1:52 pm
i personally cannot imagine how it must feel to lose all yours possessions like that, i think it would leave me rudderless for a while.
But i suppose that in any situation like that, there's the option of starting afresh somewhere new, even if that change has been forced onto you by outside influrnces. Totally hard though, it would take me a long time to find my feet again after something like that, i hope she comes through it all ok.
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 8:28 pm
Well, I am sorry to have missed so much this week, but between the computer mess and Bubba's home schooling I did not have as much time available.
To top it off, the other morning when my son was feeding the pets he discovered one of our kitties who had gotten out a couple months ago wandering around our back yard in really really bad shape. We were unsure whether his condition was the result of a cat fight, a car engne or "???" when we got him to the vet they started doing what they could to make him comfortable and then they tested him for the FLV and FIV turns out he had FIV and his immunities would not help him heal much even if they did what they could to make him well, and that he could not be returned to the general population of my kitties because then more would become ill... AND there was a very real chance he would lose one of his legs it was injured that badly... of the available choices it just seemed like the one that would treat him the best in the long run was Euthanasia.
As some may or may not recall, I am at no shortage for kitty companionship, having inherited the ones that moved up here with my mom three years ago, as well as some of my brother's and a few different times when 2 or more were brought to me for care and the fact I would be unlikely to say no. Well, he was one of those 'rescues' and when he came here 3 years ago he was a kitten but he had been gone a couple months and I really thought he might have found someplace he would rather be... now he is gone, and no matter who else is here, he was special (his sister is especially close to my daughter) and we were very sad to see this happen to him. He was a nice little guy who helped remind me that the adage "curiousity killed the cat" is actually true sometimes.
Anyway, I hope that sheds some light on my lack of participation for most of this week... still trying to co ordinate a schedule (with one less computer and a home schooler) and now trying to do stuff with the kids so they won't be so down about this week and Corky the super kitty. rolleyes
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2006 5:24 am
Lots of loss here, but that's what this thread is all about. Although I will probably not post details, I have had my fair share of loss as well... people dying, people living, items & possessions, dreams, etc. Unfortunately "loss" has a lot of different conotations and affects us all. But, I think that's part of our "human condition" and one of the things that helps us remember how special *life* is...
Anyway, my inLaws also got caught in Katrina (Gulfport, MS) and are still living in the chaos that the area south of the railroad tracks has become. Their house is one of two still remaining on the street that was not wiped out by the freight containers (etc.) which washed ashore, or otherwise destroyed by the storm. It is horrible to see them persist in that area when they have the option of coming to Florida with us, but it is their choice to do so. In some ways, I think it's harder for those of us "once-removed" from the immediate situation to see our loved ones making choices to stay in a situation that we do not truly understand, not having been through it ourselves.
Lizzy, I'm sorry to hear of the kitty. I'm sure it's one more "little" straw that you don't need to bear right now. {hugs}
And to everyone else who has shared here ... {{hugs}}... as well!
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2006 11:29 am
Gulfport is close to where Kim is. She is in Waveland. I know Kim is trying to convince her girlfriend to move to Florida with her mother...Funny how much connections we have here on the couch without even knowing it...
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2006 5:43 pm
*huggles to Lizzy and her family with the loss of the kitty*
*and to blaisixi for her numerous losses over the ages*
The closest I can relate to knowing people going through Katrina losses is when my hometown had the fire that destroyed 40-something homes, and the whole town was evacuated for a number of days. Not nearly as devastating, but many families did lose everything. I knew of people, but nobody really close to me. It's amazing to see how they've rebuilt now though. With the money they got from insurance and the government, they've rebuilt far beyond what they had before.
It's interesting.. I saw a poll last week on a poll guild here about natural disasters and what the worst was. There were the most votes for Katrina, although the Tsumani definitely affected a LOT more people from lots of nations. But since Katrina hit closer to home, that's what sticks in people's minds. Most of the people on here are teens though, and they don't really see or comprehend the numbers.
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Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 2:46 pm
so when does it all start again this year?? confused
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Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 2:55 pm
I haven't even read all the in between responses, but I wanted to post here because I feel worried about a friend in my Neopets guild (I'm actually not in purkle couch officially. ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
(Ella says "that say Aunty Fawn!")
Anyway, she just gave birth to identical twins, one of which died. (I think during the birthing process, her friend says both babies had no oxygen or blood supply for too long when they found a previously undiscovered heart problem in the Mom)
The Mom is in critical and so is the baby. But the friend said she should wake up by the time she gets there by plane today.
The loss of one out of multiples is so difficult in a confusing way. You are happy about the birth of one (assuming the other one survives), and at the same time you are grieving the death of the other.
This particular lady has already gone through a lot of loss. She herself IS an identical twin, but her sister also died during childbirth and she has always felt incomplete. This is her second pregnancy (the earlier one was also identical twins, they seem to run in her family, they are all over her family tree). In her seventh month in the first pregnancy her abusive husband threw her down the stairs and she lost them both.
I can't imagine. At this point the hardest losses for me have been my pet cats, and next my two miscarriages, at only 4 weeks and 5.5 weeks.
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Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 3:10 pm
cry That's just awful!
i trully don't know what to say to this at all, life can be so cruel.
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Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 4:33 pm
All I can remind myself is how life seems to take care of itself, when it needs to. There are a lot of times when we don't agree, but then again, when reflected upon, maybe it was right. I don't say this to take away from the loss. Afterall, it is what it is, loss. It hurts, it's often times wrong, and it never seems to sit just right in anyone's mind.
But like Kim has taught me, we move on...
**Huggles to everyone**
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Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 9:14 am
In my spiritual beliefs, we all pick things we want to experience and go through for our own soul's benefit. And even before reading ALL the coincidences, it sounded to me like a repeating theme/pattern in her life. Perhaps her twin who died when she was born is now her daughter and came to experience the same thing she went through. (And didn't I hear that when 'twins run in the family' that it's only the likelihood of fraternal twins and multiple eggs that's passed on, and that the splitting of one egg into two isn't hereditary? That leads me more to believe that the issues of identical twins is something this soul group is choosing to experience in life.)
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