Still Hanging On!

I forgot I had written the previous blog back in May. I had never posted it, so I went ahead. Here is where I started my new one. If I repeat myself, just ignore it!

Wow. My life has been chaotic since April 24. I really think I was in some sort of shock. We stayed outside the house for a week. We had no power, so we only came in to sleep. Mother's house provided showers and charges for our cell phones. Although all the library employees were working at the rec center, I stayed home. I was in no shape to help anyone. A TV crew came by and I promise I sound like a war survivor. I'm stuttering, I'm surrounded by destruction and I'm a total mess. Here is a breakdown of what all happened to our property:


My Tahoe was totaled

Layke's Accord was totaled

Jimmy's Element had $4K worth of damage

The truck had $1K worth of damage

The garage's bricks were blown off. It has to be destroyed.

Our little concrete block building had blocks blown out, the roof lifted and windows broken.

Our chain link fence was totally flattened.

The roof of the house over Layke's room was torn away and the water caused the ceiling in his room to collapse.

Numerous windows in our house were blown out.

Five huge trees were uprooted.

All total, we had about $84K worth of damage.


It's been three months. So far we've only got the roof replaced and the vinyl on the eaves of the house replaced. The trees have been removed. But everything else is still the same. This is a long, tedious process. The chaos has become a way of life. My house inside looks like, well, it looks like a tornado hit it!!


But I'm hopeful. When all is said and done we're going to have some really nice improvements. I've been wanting to remodel, but this isn't the ideal way!


On a bright note, I did get to spend a week in Nashville with my friends at the CMA Fest. It was a much-needed respite and I have been in a good state of mind ever since I got back.


The library was damaged and we opened up for the public on June 3 after weeks of working inside to get the glass, dirt and debris removed. Our children's department is still closed and our internet still doesn't work, but we're limping right along. No summer program this year. We had planned to have it in the park. There is no park left! Only one tree is left standing. The playground equipment is destroyed. So, we had to skip this year.


Jimmy has become a music star! He is part of a group called NewSouth. They had a concert in Guntersville Saturday night. They want to play at private parties, corporate events, community events, etc. They got a great reception from the approximately 100 people who came out to hear them Saturday night. They play country and classic rock. Great combo! The members of the band are Jimmy, Lynn and Tony Morgan, David Ogle, T?, and Johnny. Jimmy told me today that they are going to play at the City of Boaz's back to school celebration, whatever that is!

The future is going to be better. The repairs WILL get finished. And I have a trip planned next week with Jimmy to get away for a night. I'm looking forward to it!