In 2011, I finished an MBA at Rice University, which is a local Houston school. I was in a class of professionals who were working while getting our degrees. We were a family, but we really didn’t have a lot of time to spend with each other outside of school. After graduation, I kept in touch with some colleagues for a while, but we all moved on to different cities, different jobs, got married, had kids, life became busy, and many of us lost touch.

Throughout the rains and flooding, I posted updates on Facebook. Things went from bad to worse. The nights were the absolute worst and the fear was unbelievable. I spent a lot of time praying during those nights, giving thanks for the beautiful things that had happened that day, and asking for peace and relief from the constant anxiety. On the 5th night of the storm, a colleague from Rice told me that she could help me if I was ready to evacuate. I got in touch with her at 4AM, as I was laying on the air mattress with Audrey, approaching insanity and praying for help. I asked what she was proposing. She told me that she had left her own home to stay at her parents’ house far from the bayou and that there was an extra room we could stay in. With a sinking feeling, I asked if they could accommodate two cats and a dog. She said, with no hesitation, “sure, no problem!”. She then said that she would put together a few trucks to rescue us if we could get ourselves out of our neighborhood and to a place where she could pick us up. To put this in perspective, I graduated 6 years ago, and had only talked to this person once since then. Her offer to rescue us was an incredible act of kindness. Dave eagerly agreed with me that we should accept it.

After this, I realized I needed to put together a boat rescue, as that was the only way out of the neighborhood at that point. I had no idea how to do this. I began by asking on our neighborhood Facebook page, which was an incredibly helpful source of information during the entire storm. I received several phone numbers of random strangers, who supposedly had boats and were looking to do rescues. I contacted all of them at 5AM. I prayed for a response. At daybreak, I received responses from ALL of them. We had 7 different boats who were willing to come immediately to get us. In the end, a kind neighbor with a kayak was the first responder who dragged us out. Another incredible act of kindness.

We weren’t sure exactly what time my Rice friend could pick us up, so we had yet another friend who works with Dave come to pick us up from the boat rescue. Her husband put on waders and walked partway to meet the rescue boat. Seeing his familiar face coming to assist was so incredibly comforting. After we were pulled from the water, she took our belongings and loaded them in the car. She helped me get my kids and cats and dogs to her house and made breakfast and coffee for us while I gave my kids a bath. Dave and I ate the first real food that we had had in days. We had both been too scared to eat.

My Rice friend arrived and loaded us all up to go to her house. As we drove out of the neighborhood, the feeling was surreal.  It was a beautiful sunny day and flood waters were nowhere to be seen on the route that we took to her house.  It felt as if we had emerged from some dark corner of hell into the light.  My kids rode next to me in the backseat across several interstates, but did not even have car seats.  We could not carry them in the kayak rescue.

When we got to her house, I discovered that my friend’s parents are this very kind older couple who probably usually live in peace in quiet with just the two of them. They had opened their house to their daughter and husband, baby, and toddler. Now they were taking on another family of 4 plus 3 pets. They didn’t even seem to blink an eye. When we walked in their home, we looked and smelled horrible. They helped get us bathed, fed, and then showed us to the bedroom for naps. All 4 of us fell asleep immediately.

That evening, my friend’s mother told me that we would have a nice hot meal with all of us together at the table. I felt this incredible wave of gratefulness. Dave and I pulled our kids aside to try to prepare them for this. “Guys, listen. Tonight, we are all going to eat together. It is going to be really nice to be together and safe and share a meal. Now, whatever food they give us, we need to eat it and be grateful for it because they are very nice to share with us.”

Andrew looked up at me with his big blue eyes and he said “but I want to share some of ours with them, Mommy!” I got down on his level and I told him that he was very kind. I told him that I wish we could share with them. But right now, we have nothing. We don’t have anything to share. It was one of the most humbling moments of my life.

We sat together at the dinner table that night and for the next several nights and shared meals together, talking about the progress we had each made that day, what we had learned about the state of the city, etc. As long as I live, I will never forget how it felt to sit in that warm, inviting kitchen of a complete stranger. I am not sure it will be possible to ever repay this generosity or express what it has meant to me.

Another person contacted me via Facebook to also tell me that she had space in her house. I arranged for Dave’s parents to stay with her. She is a parent of a child in my kids’ school class and is an elementary school teacher. It turns out that she lives just a mile or so away from where we are staying. She managed to find us car seats for our kids, which she delivered to us. She arranged a play date for the following day at her house, in which she came to pick our kids up, provided breakfast and lunch, and allowed them to play at her house all day. She did the same the next day, inviting even more kids over for the entire day. Incredible act of kindness.

These are just a few examples of the humanity that is rising from the waters of this city. Every day over the past week, I’ve hugged, cried, laughed, prayed with complete strangers. I’ve made more new friends this past week than I’ve made in full years. The outpouring of complete love, concern, strength, hope, and support from those of you who know Dave and/or me, or know my parents has been unbelievably humbling. I don’t even know what to say. I’m living the darkest time of my life right now, and not for one minute of it have I felt alone. I feel light and love surrounding me and I know we will all be ok.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. -Isaiah 43:2