The past couple of months have been filled with many things. We were lucky to be able to travel to visit my parents in Florida over the Thanksgiving holiday. Dave had a full week off from teaching and I took the week off as well. We spent most of our break there, watching the twins bond with Grandma Joan and Grandpa Larry. We got out for a couple of walks on the beach and nearby parks, ate at a couple restaurant favorites, and had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with long-time friends of my parents.

As my parents and I grow older, the goodbyes get harder. We knew my dad had a pending heart surgery that would be scheduled for soon after the Thanksgiving holiday. We knew we would not be able to spend Christmas together as a family. As my mom and Dave loaded the twins into the car, my dad and I said goodbye. We are not an emotionally expressive family. Even if we were, it’s impossible to pack 38 years of love and hope and gratitude into a single moment or a single goodbye. After having my own children, my biggest fear in life has become that they won’t know how much I love them. That I won’t do a good enough job expressing myself and they won’t know how much they were loved. When I look at my own parents though, I know that I’m deeply loved. It doesn’t even have to be said, as I know it to my core.

We left Florida to fly back to Texas and settle back in with our friends. Christmas decorations were put up while we were away and the kids got to enjoy a month of beautiful lights, Christmas trees, and Christmas carols. Our house had about another month of work following Thanksgiving. I braced myself for the possibility that we would not be in by Christmas. I resolved to be flexible, making the best of the situation. I bought a new Christmas tree and made the decision that we would have Christmas morning at our house no matter what. I made a plan A, a plan B, and a plan C.

Dad’s heart surgery got scheduled for Dec 19. Three days later, we were told we could begin moving home. We began making several trips back and forth with all the things we had to move after living away for 4 months. I was able to talk to Dad on the phone during the middle of the move. He sounded good! At one point I found myself alone in the car, driving between houses and the full weight of the past few months hit me. I started to cry so hard that I had to pull the car over. I felt immense relief and joy that we all had pulled through.

I also felt anxiety. I was so happy to be moving home, but also unsure of myself. We are extremely lucky to have a house that is mostly complete, but it looks very different. Many of our things were gone. I was fearful to try to begin what felt like an overwhelming unpack. When we packed, there were 20 or so people helping and there was no organization to it. It was done as quickly as possible and was pretty random. I was afraid to discover more loss. But, the only thing to do was dive in and tackle it. So tackle it we did.

We unpacked all large items quickly and then began to tackle the many bins we had filled with pots, pans, appliances, clothes, etc. We are still very much in the process of organizing these things, but we are living comfortably in our home at this point.

By December 24, we had things organized enough that we could throw up our Christmas tree. Thankfully, our Christmas ornaments were kept in the attic and were spared. When Dave went up to get them, he discovered my wedding dress that we had hastily tossed up there when things started to look shaky. I’m not overly sentimental about my wedding dress, but I’m happy that it was spared.

We spent all day of Christmas Eve unpacking. I wasn’t sure how I was going to manage getting presents wrapped, with all the other things to do. A dear friend of mine came over and started wrapping presents for me and managed to get them all done. We got everything ready for Santa’s visit that night.

Christmas morning was delightful. It was the first meal that I cooked in our new kitchen and Dave’s parents were there to share it with us. We took our time opening presents and the twins had a lot of fun with new toys, as well as rediscovery of old favorites. Being home was the best Christmas gift imaginable for all of us.

One of the many things I clung to throughout the past few months was that this year would eventually be over. I daydreamed about New Years Eve and the turn of the year into a new one that would be a clean start. For us, it is. But we are some of the very lucky ones. Most of the flooded individuals that we know are not anywhere near being able to move back into their homes. We did not have flood insurance prior to Harvey. This is both good and bad. It did mean that we had to restore our home and replace our furniture completely on our own, but it did allow us to begin work on the home immediately. We did not have to wait for an insurance settlement. Our community is still in a state of limbo, with many piles of garbage, abandoned homes, and displaced families. We are weary with still a long road ahead. Recovery is a longer process than I ever could have imagined. We, as a community, still need love, prayers, thoughts, and patience. We still need to share our stories, our tired souls, and our hearts.

Thank you for supporting us. Happy New Year!