no words for titles
As you may know, each year we try to get to Mississippi to visit Steve’s family, they live something like 110 miles from the coast.
I talked to my father-in-law earlier today and at that point, he’d had no news. He had not been able to get a hold of any family except one of his uncles who said he was pretty much stranded at home and have been without power for a week now.
Later this evening, Steve talked to him and we find he’s finally gotten through. Everyone in Mississippi is safe and Grandma was driven farther north in MS to stay with her oldest son. They are all still without power. I think we don’t know about my father-in-law’s brother who is in Louisiana. I think he is about 86 highway miles north of New Orleans.
So at least partially there’s a sigh of relief.
Of course the death toll is continuing to rise and I almost can’t stand to watch the news as I start crying every time.
It’s strange to think how this one area of the country affects the rest of us, too. Did you ever think of that before this tragedy? I heard today that gas could very well hit the $4.00 a gallon mark around here. Man, that terrifies me. I’m already staying home all the time as it is. It’s going to get soon where we are going to have a hard time paying for Steve’s 10 hours of drive time for work each week.
Know what’s even scarier? A church in St. Louis was doing relief work for local people and those coming up the interstate from New Orleans and such - giving out money for gas and whatever else they could. Anyway, today a couple went in there and held up the pastor. They took whatever money they could get their hands on and his watch - and maybe some other things, I can’t remember. Is that not totally scary?
After we saw that, Steve said, “Well, I guess I’d better get a locking gas cap for my truck.” And then as he was leaving the room he asked me, “Do you want me to get a shotgun loaded for you? Just in case?” I just kind of looked at him for a second, then I started crying. I couldn’t help it.
But I can load that gun myself. Stay away, freaks.
This nation as a whole has to work together to survive. I wish I was able to do relief work down there. Of course, what then would I do with Elijah? And Steve would go, too, but he was instructed last week on his first day of school that he absolutely cannot miss any days. He has to be dying in the hospital with a doctor’s note before he can miss. He starts missing days and - well, it’s tied into his pay basically, they start docking hours and that means longer waits before health insurance kicks in and raises never come, etc. Blah blah blah. Of course, he’d never let me go without him, either.
Why has life been so depressing these last couple of weeks?
