Happy story (just in case someone needs one)

[Amber in SJ]

If you happen to have seen San Jose (my adopted city) in the news you might have seen some crazy flooding.  14,000 people were evacuated from their homes as Coyote Creek swept mud, sewage & contaminants through homes in areas that have not been flooded in 100 years.  Both my previous homes in San Jose were in the mandatory evacuation zones.

 

Today there was a community clean up, so we decided to go.  I have never seen anything like this except on TV after hurricanes.  Everything people owned had to be taken out to be thrown in dumpsters.  

 

One home we were assigned to was an older woman who lived alone.  The mud & water had flowed in the back door and out the front between 1-3 feet deep.  Everything had to go.  First the sodden sofas & recliner chairs then boxes & bins and piles of stuff went out.  As we removed we'd stop & ask her if she wanted to try to salvage whatever it was that we were carrying.  The small wooden chest that was filled with soft dolls belonging to her daughter had to go.  The ruined wedding albums & baby pictures, all had to be tossed.  Finally there was one thing left in the corner of the living room.  A banjo case.  

 

I said, "Oh!  Is that a banjo?  Who plays?"

 

"My late husband played until Parkinson's took it from him.  He died last year.  I haven't looked, because if it has water inside I will have to throw it away and then he will be really gone."  She started crying.

 

I convinced her that we could take it out into the sunshine and that we could open it together.  We took it out on the porch and she said she couldn't look.  I carefully opened it.  There was a beautiful and beautifully dry Fender banjo.  

 

It was just a little thing among the 100s of lbs of devastation that we hauled out today, but it was truly a bright spot & I was so glad to witness her joy.

 

Amber in SJ

 

[gaillardia]

Thank you for sharing that and a bigger thank you for helping.

[Barb_]

That made me cry. We lost our house and most of the contents last summer but there were some really weird and meaningful things that made it though. I can empathize. That was sweet of you to take care of her and understand what that meant to her.

[Arctic Bunny]

I'm so glad you were there for her!

[kitten18]

Thank you for sharing.

[Greta]

What a lovely story - and what a lovely person you are for helping.

[Caclcoca]

Thank you for sharing this story.  Thank you also for taking the time to help her through a horrible situation.  Sometimes it is truly the little things that make a huge difference.  Not everyone would have taken the time to go outside and carefully look in the case.

[Guest]

Awe! I'm so glad that came out preserved for her. So sweet!

Edited February 26, 2017 by Arctic Mama

[Liz CA]

Awww. What a gift in the midst of so much loss. I cannot imagine having to see everything you own reduced to slush.

[Lanny]

God Bless you and your family for volunteering to help!   Yes, I did see flooding in SJ on the 6 P.M. EST news from the USA, several days ago. Flooding is possibly the worst thing that can happen to a house and it can happen suddenly.

[kbutton]

Aww, thanks for sharing. I can't imagine what that discovery means to her. 

I am really happy to hear that the community is working together. I always hear about FEMA and big organizations, but I know that local people can be a huge help when an effort like this can be organized. After historic flooding in my home state, these sorts of efforts really made a difference in getting people back on their feet.

 

 

[chocolate-chip chooky]

Amber, that story is a mixture of so sad and so lovely.

When communities come together in times of need it gives us renewed faith in humanity.

 

About 6 years ago we had devastating floods in our part of the world (Queensland, Australia). Houses were completely submerged, lives were lost. It was truly devastating.

 

I got involved in our local relief centre and my role was to match up offers of help with needs of help. Someone might come in and say they had a spare fridge. Someone else may have come in and said they just lost all their appliances. Someone else would come in and say they have a ute and muscles and what can they do to help. I'd match up the ute guy with the fridge donation guy and get that fridge to the people who lost theirs. 

Or a group would roll up with buckets, mops, brooms, gloves, boots and say 'where can we help?'  I'd give them an address that needed more helpers. Or people would turn up with sandwiches and I'd send them off to a group of helpers who hadn't had food yet.

The community cohesion was incredible and I still tear up a bit thinking about it all.

 

Our area lost homes, power, outside access (all roads cut off). All shops were lost too, so people were looking for everything from nappies for their baby to a shoulder to cry on. 

 

The moments of gold were like your banjo moment eg a lost pet getting reunited with its owner.

 

Thanks so much for sharing your story, Amber.