How Easily Things Change

Hurricane Katrina has really made me think about how quickly life can change. We are consumed by our daily lives, but what would happen if something big did come through like that? It seems like most things that we tend to worry about would become pretty unimportant. Suddenly we wouldn't care what our hair looked like or if we had our cell phone. Basic things would begin to dominate, like safety, how we were going to get food and water, and where our family was. It would have to be a nerve-wracking and heart-wrenching experience to feel all of these things. It seems crazy that something like this would happen to us, but it really could. I’m sure that the people in New Orleans weren't planning on any of this happening. Sure, they knew that the danger was there, but the hurricane wasn't even supposed to hit them, originally. I can just see people rationalizing that it wouldn't happen to them or that their lives would be changed so radically. Now many of them have no homes, don’t know where their family is, and don’t even have enough food for today. They have no idea what the future has in store for them, but they know that it will be hard. Then I’ve thought, what if this happened to me?

What would I do if something like this, not necessarily a hurricane, but maybe an earthquake, happened to me? Would I be ready? It’s made me want to carry a water bottle around in my backpack and to always know where my family is. How quickly our lives can change! I just can’t get over that point. What would become important to me? I think that family would come up my list pretty fast. I’m the oldest in a big family, and I love them so much. I would really want to know where they are and if they are safe. It would worry me to death not to know what had happened to them. Then if you saw them and knew they were okay, you wouldn’t even remember that your brother had been teasing you or that your sister had broken something precious of yours. You’d be genuinely happy to be back together, and the other stuff wouldn't matter any more. Another things I’d worry about is food and water. If you really think about how much water you use daily, it kind of boggles your mind. From the showers we take, to just the water we use to drink and cook. It seems like water would be gone pretty quickly, and you would learn to be very careful with what you did have. Then what would you get it when you ran out? You can’t plan to rely on other people, because most likely they barely have enough, if that, for themselves and wouldn't have enough to give to others. It makes me want to be more prepared and to make sure you have enough on hand for yourself. It also makes me want to be sure that we have things that we can grab, if we had to leave in a hurry. What would I grab if I had to leave in two minutes?? I think I would grab extra, warm clothing, and food, but what of my personal belongings would I take? I don’t think my current book would make my short list, but more important things that can’t be replaced, like scrapbooks and journals. I don’t know, though, and it really makes you think! Where would you go? You can't plan to rely on near by family because there's a good chance they're in the same boat as you.

As I was writing this, I just realized that it’s September 11th. These same kinds of awful, life changing things happened to people four years ago. It seems hard to believe that that happened that long ago. I can still remember waking up and hearing of all the devastation that was going on in New York and Washington. It makes you think how nothing is ever guaranteed in life. It truly seems hard to believe that our lives can be changed so permanently and so quickly!