Thinking of You

Today is Halloween, a day when children of all ages dress up in costumes (or not) and go door to door looking for treats. They have no fear walking the streets of their neighborhood, knocking on the doors of people who are practically strangers to them, trusting that the treats they receive are just that, treats. I remember the fun I had as a child, returning home to dump my bag of candy on the kitchen table or living room floor so my parents could look through it and make sure it was all safe to eat. 

I suspect that my dad had an ulterior motive, deeming some treats not fit to eat yet later I would find the wrappers in the trash can of his office.

Today there are many many people who woke up another day to face the trick that Mother Nature played on them. Not because she's mean or cruel or nasty, but just because. We have no control over storms or hurricanes or tornadoes or any other kind of natural disaster.

What we do have control over is ourselves. Those of us lucky enough to still have our homes, power, water, family, friends and neighbors, can reach out to those neighbors we may only see once a year when we take our children house to house for a treat. And we can also reach out to those neighbors we will never meet, those whose lives were upended and left in ruins, those neighbors we see on the news. We can do it in person, by volunteering, by donating money or goods, or simply by letting someone use our kitchen to cook a meal, come over and watch the game, use the phone to make calls, or store food in our freezer so it doesn't spoil.

And for those who were not so lucky, please know that we are thinking of you and keeping you in our prayers, that our hearts are with you, and we hope and pray that your lives will be healed and made whole again.