FMF31 2018 Day 26: MOMENT

I am participating in 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes 2018 (all of my submissions can be found here).

Today’s prompt is: MOMENT

I was speaking with three people from Carrabelle (about an hour west of Tallahassee) last night at a fundraiser for the Eastpoint Beer Company. It’s a new business that had just started brewing its first batch of beer after putting heart and soul into setting up the business when…

Hurricane Michael hit.

I asked the people if they were involved with the brewery (because Eastpoint is just down the road from Carrabelle).

“If shoveling mud out of it is ‘involved,’ then yes,” said one person.

“I’ve been shoveling oyster shells out of it for days,” said another.

Maybe a hurricane’s damaging moments are technically longer than what we would consider “moments” (an intimate look between two people, the announcement that you’ve won a big award, a baby’s first cry), but still … everything changed in the time it took for the weather event to shove a storm surge ashore and barge into a small community with devastating winds.

One view of the damage. Courtesy Tallahassee Beer Society.

I am so sad for this small business (it’s why I went to the benefit). However, oddly, I would never have had the moments I had with these hard-working, funny, determined people had the tragedy not occurred.

There has been a lot of that in this region in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael.

Nature handed Florida’s panhandle moments of weather horror that changed people’s lives forever. As a result, we have had moments with each other we would not have experienced otherwise.

I read the word “momentous” is a combination of “moment” (brief) and “ous” (important).

This post-hurricane situation has created momentous relationship strength to overcome one of nature’s worst, cruelest moments.

Paula Kiger

Wife of one, Mom of two, Friend of many. My pronouns are she/her/hers.