Mother Nature's Fury

Sunday will mark the one year anniversary of when Mike and I (& Georgia) lost our home and almost all of our belongings. (This is how it looked two days later.) Nashville still hasn't fully recovered and I can remember it like it was only yesterday. Scrambling to find out where to go, what to do, and somewhere to seek refuge. Watching our house flood with water up to my shoulders and our very special possessions float right out of our backyard which had become the Harpeth River. It's hard to think back on all of that, even still. To have our whole life ripped away from us in a matter of hours. And then I think of all of those who are suffering from the deadly tornadoes which blew through most of the South in the past two days... they didn't have an hour or two. They didn't have any warning. Instead, Mother Nature took her fury out on thousands of people. With a death toll of over 265, it really feels like it hits close to home.

I know many of you were readers around this time last year. You offered your condolences, sweet letters and care packages, and you were there for us. I cannot even being to express enough gratitude to all of you who were there for us in our time of need. Friends, family and strangers alike, I've never in my life felt such an outpour of love and support. Now it's our turn to help our Sisters to the South with their recovery. I know several of my readers were affected by this disaster, and even if not directly, their friends and family were. With many friends in the Birmingham area, my heart breaks at the coverage on the news.

Sometimes it's hard to fathom just how something like this can happen. Even with living in Tennessee, tornado devestation just seems like something you see on the Weather Channel. Like it doesn't actually happen. Much less to you or someone you know. But that is exactly how I felt about floods.. and then I experienced one for myself. My life has been changed dramatically by that event, and I'll forever remember it. Even a year later, I honestly feel as though it was some sort of twisted blessing in disguise because it brought into my life so many wonderful people. Our entire community pulled together to support one another when the catastrophe failed to make national news. We fended for ourselves, but that doesn't mean they should have to.

With that being said, I wanted to touch base on a few ways that you can help! You can text 90999 from your cellphone to donate $10 to the Red Cross (it will show up on your next statement) or you can donate directly at RedCross.org. If you are located in the Southeast and would like to volunteer your time, you can look for opportunities to help with cleanup. 

From now until May 7th, I will donate 100% of the proceeds to the Red Cross from anyone who wants to sponsor Little Chief Honeybee.

It's so easy for us to just look at the news and feel numb when we see things like this. The media has definitely left us a little less responsive to catastrophic events such as what just happened. So many people were there for us when we needed it, and it really truly meant so much. Now it's our turn to give back. If you've been on the fence about sponsoring before, think of it as a wonderful way to help those in need. People have been stripped of their homes, material possessions, and even family members. All of the proceeds will be donated to the American Red Cross here in Nashville (down the street from our house) on Monday, May 9th. Please email me at kaelahbee@gmail.com if you'd like to partake.