Cathy’s Experience After Ike

September 21

We are at day 9 without power or water. At around day 5 or 6 I happily agreed with Gary to put pen to paper about a day in the life of the Carson’s in the aftermath of hurricane Ike. The problem is, sheer exhaustion has interfered with this process. Weariness is slowly creeping in. Each day begins anew and we are all fresh, but by the end of the day, we are feeling as if we can’t take much more. The problem is, this is not a dream we can wake up from.

For 10 nights straight, I have awakened at least 20 times a night. For someone who typically is asleep as her head hits the pillow and sleeps through the night, well, sleep deprivation is definitely taking its toll.

We were going to evacuate to Dallas, but apparently, so was everyone else. We missed the boat so to speak and ended up having to batten down the hatches and get ready for this big bad hurricane. Fortunately, due to my childhood, we had already stockpiled everything. No provisions needed here because we had it all. And thank God for that, as the stores were a nightmare.

On that fateful Saturday morning, I was a praying fool – I prayed continuously. I prayed that we would live. I selfishly prayed that our home would be spared (we had just moved into a new home 2 weeks before). I prayed that my babies would sleep through this because I did not want them to experience the terror that I felt. For about 5 hours straight, the wind and rain kept coming. The sounds outside were horrifying. The 70-foot trees all around us were coming down. There were noises that I could not make out, but that I will never forget.

Then the calm came. The eye of the storm gave us a much needed break. I am not sure my heart could have handled much more. The calm lasted for several hours and then we took another beating for another 3 hours. This feeling of "will this ever end?" popped into my head over and over. From 1 a.m. until it was done, I watched that clock. I remembered from news reports the day before that we would have to endure until 10 a.m. Each hour down, I would say to myself, "just hang in there until 10 a.m.!" It took Ike longer to make his way through our area, but once he was done, the relief was immense. Two large trees down, one touching the house, but not causing damage. Shingles missing from the roof and the top of the large shed peeled back like a can of sardines. We were praising God!

I have taken about 300 photos of the devastation in our community, but also of the life. After Ike passed, we rescued 5 squirrels and one injured chicken. We nursed all as best we could with our limited knowledge as well as resources. My children have been amazing with these critters. The blessing in this mini rescue mission is that it has given my children something to focus on besides themselves. Unfortunately, we lost two baby squirrels – one due to a head injury that we just couldn’t possibly treat. The good news is the adult squirrel ran like the wind once she was better. We have two babies named Ike (imagine that!) and Potato. Isabella the chicken left with the local rooster that visits our yard every morning and every evening. We acquired a pup whom we have named Freeway (yes, you guessed it, found him on the freeway).

These days are spent caring for all 5 of our pets (Tommy and Lucky Girl were already a part of the Carson Clan before Ike). We have a routine that consists of lots of work because the day-to-day doesn’t come as easy as it did before the hurricane. We are blessed with a generator and being seasoned campers. We know how to rough-it.

With Rick, my husband, as our ring-leader, we have returned the yard to normal as much as we can at the moment. The kids have been troopers in stepping it up and working as hard as they have been. We are so proud of them!

We have returned to work, although school is still not in session. Rick’s company is fortunate enough to have power. My company is running on generators. It has been amazing to see how everyone is pulling together in an attempt to return to some normalcy.

Three days before Ike, in an email to Gary, I was telling him about a thought that popped into my head during my commute that evening:

We as humans have choices about how we live our lives and these are those choices in a nutshell:

• We can live selfishly

• We can allow ourselves to be enslaved to addiction

• We can simply exist

• Or we can serve God and fellow man while enjoying the little things in life

Some of us waste years experimenting with the wrong choices until one day we realize what our purpose in life really is. The devastation that we have been witness to this past week is a reminder for me of why I choose to live my life serving God and fellow man.

Think of the little squirrels that we lost. The blessing in finding these two little guys, but then having them pass 24 hours later is this: They were shown compassion, love, and warmth during their final moments. That makes every effort spent so worth it.

Catherine Carson ‘87

September 26

Dear Gary,

Power restored today! 2 weeks to the day! Hallelujah! God is so Good!

Love you,