The details here make this all the more terrifying. "Past teeth brushing time." "Snacks she doesn't like" these put us in the car with you. In the rain. The fear. This is happening. And we can't really do anything about it. We fear for ourselves and our children and our children's children. Great piece.
Really enjoyed reading this, Shawna! The juxtaposition of life and death is stark and moving. You capture it all so well. I remember thinking these same thoughts when we lived in Sunnyside, Queens--we were there from 2014 to 2020. I was an 8th-grade English teacher in Woodside at the time and would often think of my students and their families during disasters. I now have two daughters and live in Asheville, NC, where our region faced a blowing disaster two years ago: Helene. Yet, for us, we were safe, along with our home, belongings, and vehicles. Many in our area were served fate in a hurry overnight. I wrote about the aftermath in an essay titled "After Helene, Preston." You can find it here if you're interested in reading: https://katrinadonhamwrites.substack.com/p/after-helene-preston?r=3cnvg1&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web.
And we all just keep hoping for normal, when what we knew as normal doesn’t exist anymore.
The details here make this all the more terrifying. "Past teeth brushing time." "Snacks she doesn't like" these put us in the car with you. In the rain. The fear. This is happening. And we can't really do anything about it. We fear for ourselves and our children and our children's children. Great piece.
Thank you!
Really enjoyed reading this, Shawna! The juxtaposition of life and death is stark and moving. You capture it all so well. I remember thinking these same thoughts when we lived in Sunnyside, Queens--we were there from 2014 to 2020. I was an 8th-grade English teacher in Woodside at the time and would often think of my students and their families during disasters. I now have two daughters and live in Asheville, NC, where our region faced a blowing disaster two years ago: Helene. Yet, for us, we were safe, along with our home, belongings, and vehicles. Many in our area were served fate in a hurry overnight. I wrote about the aftermath in an essay titled "After Helene, Preston." You can find it here if you're interested in reading: https://katrinadonhamwrites.substack.com/p/after-helene-preston?r=3cnvg1&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web.