We’re different – stronger




 

 

Port Aransas looks different, it smells different, it feels different. It is different.

It may not seem like it now, but I’m confident we’ll be better than we were before that bad boy Hurricane Harvey picked a fight with us. We’ll certainly be stronger.

You know what they say: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

Port A Strong.

That’s become our motto, and I’m buying into it.

In times of hardship, I’ve wondered, “How can the sun rise?” “How can people go about their lives in a ‘business-as-usual’ mode when my life has changed forever, and not in a good way?”

These past few weeks we’ve been focused on one thing: Port Aransas. Nothing else has mattered. Our morning routine of our newspapers and coffee has not happened since the morning of Aug. 24. Whatever is going on in the “outside” world is of no significance. The only thing that matters is getting through this.

It surprises me when I get my email from the New York Times – What to Cook this Week? Cook? You must be kidding. Cook? You can’t be serious. And we’re among the lucky ones who might actually be able to do that, given the time – and energy.

I have not indulged in the entertainment provided by President Donald Trump’s daily tweets and, more so, the responses.

I am an NPR junkie. I listen(ed) to it every morning while getting dressed, and to NPR NOW every time I’m in my vehicle. I had not listened to NPR’s Morning Edition since Aug. 24 until the morning of, of all days, Monday, Sept. 11. I tried to listen to NPR NOW driving back to Port Aransas from our “South Jetty South” office on North Padre Island Monday night. I couldn’t. It didn’t seem to matter.

We subscribe to Creators News Service from which we choose our editorial cartoons. I don’t even know what half of them are about, and if I do, they don’t seem relevant. At the same time, we’re looking for diversions from all things Hurricane Harvey. There aren’t many.

We tried going to a movie one night (in a real theatre – I’ve lost track of the days, so I have no idea when that was). We were looking for comedy, so we went to Big Sick. Well, the trailers were a little misleading. It was a good movie, but it wasn’t Blazing Saddles or It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World – which is what we needed.

Finally, my husband provided the comic relief I needed. (If you know Murray, I can hear you saying, “Of course.”)

He was dealing with an insurance adjustor by the name of Betsy Pitts. Murray was on the phone with her, and she gave him her email address. He recited it back to her to confirm the address, and well, you, know, “p” and “t” sound a whole lot alike, and Murray heard “t” when it should have been “p.” She didn’t miss a beat and corrected his spelling. It’s probably happened before.

He told me that story and I let loose. I laughed so hard I cried, and I couldn’t stop. I’d wind down, then I’d wind up. I think I laughed for a full five minutes. God, it felt good!

It’s a miracle someone didn’t call 9-1-1.

That let me in on a little secret: There is life after Harvey, and we’ll get there – together.

Mary Henkel Judson is editor and co-publisher of the South Jetty. Contact her at editor@portasouthjetty.com, (361) 749-5131 or P.O. Box 1117, Port Aransas, TX 78373.)


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