What matters

A few years back, my parents bought a little place in Florida. On one of the barrier islands on the treasure coast. Really, they bought more than a very small parcel of land and place to live. It's a retirement village, with people from the East Coast, Midwest and the South. There are professional and working-class retirees living side by side by side. I'd guess about 25 to 30 percent are year-round residents, with the rest snow birds. They have a mens' choir (my dad doesn't sing), put on a play every year at their annual Spring Fest, have mens' and womens' clubs (mom belongs), fishing and golf tournaments (dad is a fresh-water fisherman -- very different), etc. etc. My folks are in their 60s and 70s (my dad is the eldest in his family -- calls himself a geezer), and I think it did them good to move down there and realize how old people really can live. Damn, in Florida, they are young!

Anyway, last time I was at home, Mom was eager to head back for social reasons. (My sister said heading back there each year was like going back to college -- you'd greet friends and catch up on what everyone had done over the summer.) Dad would have preferred to stay home and take care of the leaves -- we are very pro-tree in my family -- until there were no more hurricanes predicted. She argued that you could get hit by a bus crossing the street and was eager to go. "I ride my bike around the block here -- everyone I know in this neighborhood is dying." How can you argue with that? He went.

Sunday, their island was evacuated, even though it was a hot day with the sun shining brightly, she reports. They went to a PGA resort about 30 miles west, with some of their neighbors to wait out the storm. Mandatory evacuation; FPL cut the power to the island to get people to leave.

So today, I've been checking the online papers to follow the storm path, and maybe see pictures of any damage to their island. My sister is acting as the family point-person; the power went out where they are staying and the cell phone battery is precious. They are doing fine, trying to keep spirits up, and eager to get back home tomorrow at sunup when the curfew lifts. Reports from friends who stayed on the island -- my sister called to check up -- has only minor damage to their place. The year they first bought the place, they stayed in late September or early October for a storm they swore was a hurricane, but I think it only made it to tropical storm levels. The sounds are what they talked about.

I'm glad they're ok, hope their property is too. Things like this put other things in perspective for me. Just wanted to share...