Just over a week ago the East Coast was victim to one of the most devastating storms to ever to hit the United States.
During the hurricane, trees were downed, boats and homes destroyed, families devastated and lives lost. Rising from the floods and the ashes is evidence that the internal strength of this region is already back on the Road to Healthy.
Many of us on Eastern Long Island had our own issues to deal with last Tuesday and Wednesday. Tree limbs were downed everywhere, flooded basements were the norm, there was loss of electricity and we were in the dark both figuratively and literally about knowing just how bad the devastation was just south and west of us. As we began to venture out, find phone service, and spend the nights with friends whose houses had power, we were all shaken and saddened by the mass destruction and loss of life Sandy left in her wake.
While scanning through the newspapers and watching the news and telethons, the one type of visual image that rose above all the devastation was seeing the efforts put forth by family, friends, and in many cases strangers, putting aside their own issues to help others. Communities in Staten Island, Breezy Point and the Jersey Shore, who were hardest hit, were not giving up but had instead already begun to recover and rebuild. It was evident that many of the communities most structurally devastated were spiritually stronger than ever before.
The incident that most hit home to me during this storm was the tragic loss of my friend John “Jack” Miller. Last Monday night, Jack was struck and killed by a tree while making the effort to move his wife and two young children to safer ground.
I have a beautiful wife and three young children similar in age to Jack’s kids. The thought of his wife, Linda, and his two daughters having to experience the loss of their husband and father saddened and sickened me.
As sad as the news of Jack’s death, the strength and fortitude displayed by his family at his funeral on Saturday was uplifting. The church was cold and in the dark without power but above it all Jack’s family came together and paid tribute to him.
Keith, Jack’s younger brother, delivered a eulogy that brought chills, tears and laughter to all in attendance. His talk about his brother was the first time in my life that I took part in a standing ovation that the entirety of the room would have been standing even if there was only one person in the room.
A little over a week later, normal life is returning to the East End. For me, this means heading upstairs now to get the kids off to school, filling the tank of my car and heading to work to receive deliveries that should be arriving.
I truly hope for me personally that this will be the beginning of a new normal life; one that allows me to put my own problems in perspective, not sweat the little issues and be as strong as the individuals I have witnessed over the past week.
If I can come close to finding a fraction of that strength inside myself that these folks have displayed, both my physical and mental quest for continued healthiness should be a breeze.
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