Hands Off – Hurricane Idalia

It’s been 11 months since hurricane Ian struck Florida. Although there has been much restoration and clean up, there’s still evidence of rebuilding in the area.

Then here comes Hurricane Idalia who just bulldozed through the bend in Florida.  My oldest son’s house was in the path and was destroyed.

If I could describe my son, he is a weather fanatic. He has always had a connection to the elements. If there’s a thunderstorm or a large weather event he’s practically foaming at the mouth with anticipation. If he could, he would be a storm chaser.

As the hurricane was barreling towards the bend in Florida where he lives, this mama bear was not feeling too good about it. There is a fine line about letting your kids have experience and being the parent, no matter how old they are.  He and his wife have a cute little house on five acres with lots of those large oak trees that have Spanish moss hanging from them.  Not fully sure how the house would fare, he did send his wife and one year-old inland to a hotel that would be less affected by the storm. He spoke to me on the phone and said ‘Mom, I’m going down with the ship’.

Not exactly what you want to hear from your son, yet oddly I get it.

His father and I continued to keep in touch with him. His father has anxiety and tends to project his fears. I have always taken the opposite stance. I choose to be strong and confident. I want to walk next to my kids should they need help but always with gentle caution as well. If my son was under the age of 18, I would have been a bit sterner in advising him but considering that he is 30 years old and self-sufficient I very well could not. I did offer to be an extra set of hands to be there with him to help if necessary. He said he’s been living for this for his entire life and he would be fine.

The best I could do was to send a team of angels to surround his house and family for protection.  I did kick on my Spidey senses to see if there were any bad feelings. I wasn’t sure what I was looking to feel, but I did not have the overwhelming feeling of grief or extreme devastation.  For that I was very grateful.

During the early morning hours, the hurricane made landfall as a category four. His wife called me at 8 AM from the hotel. She let me know that while my son was sitting on the couch large pieces of the oak tree had fallen onto the house through the roof, and some debris and branches hit him moments earlier. He was finally able to get the bleeding on his nose to stop, he’s pretty sure it’s broken, his eye was swelling shut, and he had a very bad headache.

The storm was still raging on, and nobody could get to him.

I was sent videos and pictures. Hands down I know he was protected from being impaled and knocked unconscious. He shows a video of one of the very large tree branches and all of the debris that fell on him where he was sitting. There is no question angels were around him.

Everybody was calling to check on him hearing the news. Running on adrenaline of course he was doing the best that he could where he was at, alone.

All I can control is myself and to be self-aware. Taking inventory, I found myself in a state of shock and frustration. Being almost five hours away, it was still not safe for me to travel to go to him. Social media posts were showing flooding in areas all around. Reality set in. Even if I had tried to go, I don’t know if I could have reached him at that moment. The flood waters needed to subside. There was nothing that I could do for a bit. Further assessment of the damage needed to be done. Talk about feeling helpless for the day!

My struggle as a mom is wanting to take over, be in charge, be a fresh set of eyes and help. Just DO something. Spirit has been holding me back. You see, I asked for signs if I should get in the car and go, and spirit won’t give me any answer at this time.  I know there’s a reason for everything. I want to go up there. I want to hug my son.

There is a group of family and friends that are going up with tarps, ladders, chainsaws, etc. to help do what they can for him.  I realize that everything that needs to be done right now is of a physical nature.  I’m not able to climb up on a roof. I can’t lift heavy logs out of a house. My vehicle is not equipped to tow massive tree limbs. Furthermore, until the insurance adjuster gets there, they were advised not to touch anything.

Spirit continues to remind me of how I used to be. I always was one of the guys and doing physical labor. Spirit knows that if I was there, that’s what I would still try to do, which is why I am being held back.  Spirit is also reminding me that there’s a reason for everything and to look at the big picture. It will be a long and arduous task for them to deal with which I can help and advise them.  Also, this is a small lesson for my son, which he may or may not realize at this time. Basically, don’t tempt Mother Nature and be cocky about it.

My brain continues to swirl. Any of us that have had lots of life experiences want to jump in and take over because we’ve been there done that, and we’ve got the T-shirt to prove it.  We have to remember, though, that our children have to have life experiences, so they know how to handle things in the future for themselves and their family, when we are not around.

So, spirit continues to remind me that I am not in charge, and everything will be fine. They will let me know when I can help. I continue to remind myself that he is safe and I’m going to be able to hug him shortly. My one-year-old grandson won’t have much memory of the events that are taking place right now, but his parents will most certainly have a story to tell and videos to show him.

I continue to send prayers to all that are affected by the storm!