Wednesday
Dec232009
home(less) for the holidays
Wednesday, December 23, 2009 at 10:44PM
I've been displaced.
I timed my return home with one of the biggest snow storms in recent memory. It took me 17 hours to drive the final stretch through Virginia country roads only to have to walk the last mile in the snow at 4:00 a.m., arriving cold and weary to an empty house without power. Great "welcome home" party. A couple of nights were spent in the house, huddling close to the fireplace, cooking food and heating water over its flames. We eventually had to leave. It's been six days and still no power. My mind drifts back a week ago. Fabian and his family, shivering uncontrollably, coughing in the mountain air, huddled under their shelter of trash bags. What I am experiencing now is an inconvenience. A discomfort. This will be remembered as the Christmas without power...or as the Christmas that we had to flee our house in search of hot water. But for the 3.5 million people in Colombia, this is life. Their homes are nothing but fading memories; their farms are forgotten soil. What sadness stirs in their hearts during a homeless Christmas? What joy?
Love on the ones around you right now. Be thankful for the life you have. And fight with us for the nameless.
Merry Christmas from the Give Us Names crew.
cpc
I timed my return home with one of the biggest snow storms in recent memory. It took me 17 hours to drive the final stretch through Virginia country roads only to have to walk the last mile in the snow at 4:00 a.m., arriving cold and weary to an empty house without power. Great "welcome home" party. A couple of nights were spent in the house, huddling close to the fireplace, cooking food and heating water over its flames. We eventually had to leave. It's been six days and still no power. My mind drifts back a week ago. Fabian and his family, shivering uncontrollably, coughing in the mountain air, huddled under their shelter of trash bags. What I am experiencing now is an inconvenience. A discomfort. This will be remembered as the Christmas without power...or as the Christmas that we had to flee our house in search of hot water. But for the 3.5 million people in Colombia, this is life. Their homes are nothing but fading memories; their farms are forgotten soil. What sadness stirs in their hearts during a homeless Christmas? What joy?
Love on the ones around you right now. Be thankful for the life you have. And fight with us for the nameless.
Merry Christmas from the Give Us Names crew.
cpc
Reader Comments (1)
Caleb: I'm so proud of you! I hear the power is back on in Southwest Virginia. Didn't know you were home. I'm sure your Mom "loved on you" a lot. Can't wait to hear more of your stories of hope from Colombia. Look for an envelope to "Give Us Names, Inc." I'll be sending it to Atlanta very soon.
Love You, Caleb
Aunt Betty