A Moment to Think

Sorry for the quiet - it's been an interesting few weeks...

"How often do we get the gift of time?" That's what one of my friends said this past week. First off, leave it to this particular friend to find the silver lining in all this mess that Sandy left behind. But more importantly - think about it. For those of us lucky enough to have power loss be the worst that happen to us, what did you do with that time. I like many was without power for several days. It wasn't easy but even though I couldn't see the news I had enough resources to hear what they were saying on the radio and was catching what else was going on through Twitter & Facebook.

Sandy was something I think few of us expected. She was big enough to kill power for over 6 million homes, she wiped out entire communities, she even managed to cancel Halloween AND the NYC Marathon - that #)($%@ Many people I know lost a lot more than their power for a few days, and these are the same people that are out there helping others. You are my heros.

But Sandy gave me a gift I wasn't expecting during my last few days here, time with my family and time with some friends that I wasn't sure I would get to see. Actual TIME. Time where we had nothing to do but sit around and talk. My family didn't have power or heat - so we spent a few days all curled up around the fireplace. We played games, we talked and we went to bed early. When will I have that opportunity again?

After four days with no power I finally was able to get someplace with power and got to spend some real quality time with some friends. Everyone was full of stories of now power but no one really complained - knowing how lucky we really were. We got to talk, drink wine, eat - boy did we eat - and just hang out. Most of the area didn't have power, public transportation was tough to find so we just spent time together.

I leave on Saturday and honestly do not know when I will be returning to the area - at few times a year for certain but I really can't predict at this point. So while she was a major pain in the you know where, she gave me a few extra memories that I wouldn't have had otherwise. So I will take the silver lining and thank her for the gift of time.