A year ago, in the spring of 2019, our valley experienced what our family calls “the Big Wind”. This windstorm raged throughout the night, and when we woke up in the morning, all in our town woke up to some roads closed and some driveways blocked with fallen trees. Many trees, big and small, fell that night during the big wind. Trampolines from backyards were in soccer fields and soccer nets were blown into parking lots. Branches galore were strewn over the ground.
That morning two of my sons headed over to take care of our neighbor’s animals, about two blocks away, and when they came back, they had energy and purpose in their gait.
They had a plan to help.
This plan took all of us that were able, saws and clippers and gloves in hand, to help clear the neighborhood. And so, abandoning our normal plan for the day, we got to work. I drove an old truck around and we would, with the owner’s permission of course, load up tree after tree, branch after branch.
We took many trips to the green waste that day, until previous appointments stopped us from doing more. Every time we visited the green waste drop-off site, the pile was even larger. At our last drop-off of the day, I backed up the truck to the pile and, from the back of the truck, we threw the tree pieces up over our heads into the tall pile.
At the green waste pile, we would overhear the cheerful remarks as people worked. “Only one million ninety nine loads left to go,” they would say. And yet cheerful is the right adjective to use for these workers, even when lamenting the loss of a favorite tree.
We were tired when we finished for the day – and sore for days after – but what we remember most about that day is the unity we felt throughout our community.
“What a storm!” we all seemed to collectively say, “Unexpected! Have you ever seen anything like it? It might take awhile to clean up all the after effects (and even longer for new trees to grow), but we’re all in this together.
And we’ll make it through.”
It was if, all of a sudden, we remembered this truth – that we are all in this together. Waking up from our own lives and cares and worries, we all realized that we have more in common than we have differences. Together, we solved problems, we gave and received help as needed, and thus we came together unified.
Jump ahead to Spring 2020 and we are all staying safe by staying home. There’s a new unexpected challenge in our life.
And, once again, we feel unity.
My kids and I visited the grocery store last week. Everyone was ultra-cautious (so were we) and certainly we encountered some that seemed quite fearful of all others in the store. But somehow, our experience in that grocery store reminded us of our experience after the Big Wind.
We stood in the grocery line at safe social distances and talked to the person checking us out behind a plastic panel all in an effort to stop germs from spreading. But our conversation was one of unity.
“How are you doing during these crazy times? What’s hard about it? What’s working?”
It’s like, all of sudden, we all remember yet again that we are on the same team. Once again, we are reminded that we have more in common than we have differences.
And together, we can solve problems, give and receive help as needed, and we can come out of this unified.
There are so many ways we can still help each other! We drop off chicken eggs to neighbors (leaving them on the porch for pick-up after we’re gone in an overabundance of caution). We organize virtual meet-ups. We smile at people walking the street or driving by to foster connection while apart.
As humans, we need connection. What have you been called to do? What’s drawing your heart? Not only does it bless others, reaching out helps the giver to be connected to something bigger than self.
Like our experience in the Big Wind, the global citizens of the world seem to be united in saying, “What a storm! Unexpected! Have you ever seen anything like it? It might take awhile to clean up all the after effects (and even longer for new trees to grow), but we’re all in this together. And we’ll make it through.”
We are in this together. And I have great faith in humanity. Together we’ll make it through.
