One Year of Gratitude — Day 54

Joshua Briley
Aug 26, 2017 · 3 min read
Photo by Kate Williams on Unsplash. Thank you, Kate!

This morning I am thinking about my family and friends in Southwest Louisiana. They are close to Texas where Hurricane Harvey made landfall last night. A category-4 hurricane is a serious matter. I am hoping for the best outcome.

Being on the east side of the storm can be dangerous. Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on cities east of New Orleans. The storm devastated Bay St. Louis, Gulfport and Waveland in Mississippi. They did not receive the same national news coverage as New Orleans but the situation was bad there, too.

It has been twelve years since Katrina. We were some of the lucky ones who were able to evacuate the area before the storm. I will never forget the news on television the morning after. I could not believe what had happened to our town. I could not believe what I was seeing. It was the closest thing to being in shock I have ever experienced.

From the time of those news reports, it would be six weeks until my family moved back home together. My son became an interim student at another school, seventy-five miles from home. He and I lived in a guest house behind my grandparent’s house. I was on a leave of absence from work. They more-or-less shut the office down. My wife had to stay back home and work at the hospital. There was no power at home. So, she lived in the hospital. She visited Chase (our son) and me on her days off and the weekends. It was a trying time. Some people lost everything. Some folks had nowhere to turn. We were some of the lucky ones.

It was not all bad. There were good times during the Katrina aftermath. We tried to make the best of the situation. Our extended family pitched in and helped out a lot, too. Every day after I picked Chase up from his temporary school, we stopped for snow cones. It was the same place I used to get snow cones as a kid. It was fun for him and nostalgic for me. It was a reason to smile and be happy. We went to the park more often than usual, too. We walked outside together a lot. During his school hours, I wrote and recorded lots of music. That helped keep my mind off the situation. That music will be with me forever.

While I would never wish disaster on anyone, I am grateful for the time after the storm. It forced us into a different mode of existence for a while. It reminded us how little control we have over things. But, the way we respond to bad situations is well within our control. It strengthened a bond between my son and me. It inspired and invoked creativity. It brought out the best of in all of us. I am thankful for my family, immediate and extended. Without them, the situation could have become unmanageable.

And that is your gratitude for today.

)

I’m sharing my daily stories of gratitude for a year. Thanks for reading.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade