I was in Nashville when then floods hit on May 3, 2010. I was coming back from a planning meeting with the Tennessee Marine Family for the Fallen Heroes Memorial Ride, and as I drove through the pouring rain on the bridge over the Cumberland River, watching the white caps violently skimming right under and splashing the bridge, I thought, "Okay, that can't be normal."
It wasn't. As I proceeded home via I-24, my jaw dropped as I saw the Interstate empty, a jam of vehicles on several exits, and my gut told me I had better exit somewhere ASAP. I made it home after about two hours creeping slowly on Nolensville Pike, but not before I had witnessed several flooded areas and backstreets, police and fire units everywhere. When you look at devastation on TV, with cars underwater and people stranded, it seems unreal. When you witness it with your own eyes, shock and reality hits pretty hard.
The next week was chaos for me. As the Media/PR Coordinator for Nashville's National Day of Prayer slated to be held at the Grand Old Opry, I waited frantically to hear news of the venue and our headliner, Ricky Skaggs and the Whites, only to find that the Opry, too, had been devastated by flooding. When Ricky offered his church, First Baptist of Hendersonville, to be the new locale, I breathed a quick sigh of relief and started planning a whole new layout/schedule for the event, given that it was to be broadcasted live by three television networks and via Internet. Many news reporters contacted me within hours of the event, telling me that they were stuck in "flood traffic", but that they would be there...late, but they would be there. The moments of the evening involved going back and forth between the auditorium, the green room, hair and makeup, having my cell phone on "stun"...I coordinated the event the best I could given the circumstances. But when I finally rushed to my seat, kicked off my heels, got into my seat, watched the camera booms in position for the "three, two, one..." and saw Ricky and Sharon on the stage breaking into "A Family That Prays"...I swear I was the first one to pray that night as I closed my eyes and thought, "Thank you, God. Damn, I need a beer."
I was restless after the event, and contacted my Metro Councilman to see how I could help. There were churches, businesses, government program coordinators and community groups cropping up literally everywhere giving immediate relief, from manpower, monetary donations...to simply making sandwiches and donating food to rescue units and victims. I was a witness to an incredibly great community of people who, regardless of economic or social status, came together to comfort, encourage, support and rebuild.
I feel great sorrow for the victims in the wake and now silence of Hurricane Sandy. Though I cannot rightly judge everyone who has been devastated in the aftermath of Sandy's storm, I can't help but think about those who ignored the warning signs and advice of authorities to evacuate, who set themselves up for a "we told you so" scenario. This incredibly devastating storm will cost billions of dollars to rebuild, and those who ignored warnings will most likely expect monetary help...at great expense to the whole.
What about the tragedies that hit us as individuals and families? Lost jobs and homes, crime and violence, terrorism, divorce, death (I've sung for way too many funerals these days). When disaster hits, do we expect a bail out, and do we sit around waiting for such? Or would we pull up our bootstraps, roll up our sleeves, muster up our own resolve to help, comfort, encourage, support and rebuild life again as we know and want it?
We have historically relied upon government, corporations, churches and religion, banks and financial instutions, systems than can and will fail....to bail us out of our lazy unpreparedness. With money being the god and idol worshipped by these entities and by our own selves, will we ever finally realize the sinking sand upon which these hollow facades were built will fall? And when they do, where do we turn? Hopefully, we turn to each other. For in the end, money is no match for the power of the human will and spirit. I've seen it with my own eyes, I've experienced it, sometimes with my own life on the line. If we do not rely on each other as friends and community, who are we? Have we've become ignorant wimps who deserve what comes to us? Or are we smarter, more evolved human beings that have read our history lessons and know when enough is enough?
When my son was in Iraq, he told me: "Mom, everything I have to survive is on me. My food, water, bedding, weapon....you need to be able to do this, too." I never forgot those words. My daughter graduated from USMC bootcamp with hairline fractures in her ankles because during The Crucible, she not only carried her own weight and pack, but the weight and pack of one of her fellow Marines. I left Nashville over two years ago with nothing but what I could pack in my car, a cheap pay-as-you-go cell phone and several maps, which was a lot more than either my son or daughter had. When did living become survival for so many of us?
This election year, I hope that we think about who is control of our lives on this little planet called Earth. It's an exceedingly small microdot in a seemingly infinite Universe, yet it is a place we call home. I am blessed with eyes to see, ears to hear, and a voice to communicate how I feel about the world I live in, and how I see it, the "powers that be" invest in vapor, the US President is nothing more than a puppet that does what it is told, and $2 billion has been invested in this puppet. http://www.krgv.com/news/campaign-reaches-2-billion
I'm disgusted by the "2012 Vote". Personally, I feel I've been backed up against the wall with every prop and candidate, how am I supposed to vote? I'd rather vote for you, for me, for my friends, for real people in the real world, my world. I'd rather vote for local and regional change and community investments. Hell, I'd rather suck wax fruit than vote for a puppet that has no purpose. Two billion dollars would probably be better spent helping our community's economy and a boon to the rebuilding of many tragedies that have befallen our nation.
In my disgust, however, there is a peace and calm. A peace, knowing that I do have real friends and people in my life. A calm, knowing that these things were and are predictable, have consequences, and can and will be ridden through. At what price, who knows, but I can tell you this, there is a difference between price and value....and you cannot put a price on the human will. You can put a value on a house, but not a home. You can put a price on a product or service, but you cannot put a price on truth and freedom, and those who have fought for it.
Vote for you this election year. I will...and that is a vote that does not come with a ballot.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XyRNt2Uur8
The module structure you see floating down the Interstate was less than a mile from my house in Nashville. I drove by that structure all the time.
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