At work, we’ve had so many orders coming through that we’ve started partnering with other businesses around us to make the product more professional. Brenda is one of the owners of the frame shop we’ve been working with and has been helping us keep up business as usual. I run by there pretty much every day to check in on what pieces we have ready, and after doing that for a few weeks, you kind of get to know each other. I went to visit last week right before the tornadoes and she told me that they were shutting down early because of the weather. That was the first warning I had gotten that day about what was ahead.
Today was the first day I was able to go back to visit her and she told me how happy she was to see me. She was worried that our offices had been hit and was worried we would be down for a while. Luckily, we were both spared from the storm and it seemed that business was back on as usual. However, this time our conversation was more than just about the frames. It’s hard to go anywhere in this town now without running into people that were affected. Brenda has spent the majority of her life here, and it was hard to listen to her reminisce about what had happened to her home town. The pain was clear.
Even the people that are back to business as usual are still highly affected by this storm. For the first time for all of us, it’s our home that was hit. I’m sure if any of our neighbors were hit, southern hospitality would reach out to help and bring relief wherever it was needed. However, when we count over 250 deaths in our home, and see years of tradition and memories wiped out in one night, it’s hard to not be affected. Brenda told me how she would never be able to look at town the same way because she would always be reminded of this pain that came up this week. We have a rich tradition and are founded on memories, and this storm has definitely made its mark on our history as well.
As you can see, over the past week, it’s hard to go somewhere and not talk about the storm. Honestly, I wanted to write a blog today that didn’t talk about the storm, but it’s impossible to meet someone from around here that was unaffected from last Wednesday. The good news is though that despite the destruction, there’s still plenty to celebrate. Our community is making sure that no one is facing this alone. Most of the houses that could maybe be saved weeks down the road were weather proofed before the rain today. People have places to stay, food to eat, and clothes to wear. We may not have the same town that we’re used to on the surface, but we’re headed to a better place than we’ve ever been before. One thing I told Brenda before I left is that we have a lot to celebrate because of how our town is responding. This is a time of mourning for some, but we’ll all be celebrating soon…
