losing power

Dear Em,
Well, we're safe. Our family is safe & our home is intact.

Before the storm, we got water & we got ice. You know, the things you do before a storm. A state of emergency was called for Rhode Island on Sunday night, & we watched the wind pick up.

On Monday we all hunkered down in the house. Daddy was lucky to work from home & I was lucky to have been told to stay off the roads in the unsafe weather. We stayed inside & waited for the worst of hurricane Sandy.

Mostly, you & I just watched TV. In the off chance we lost power, I figured we may as well stock up on as much useless TV watching before then. We watched a lot of the weather channel. There was so much water. Water where there shouldn't be water...in New Jersey where I graduated from high school...in NYC...on our favorite coastline spots in Connecticut & Rhode Island.

I couldn't keep from staring out the windows. Trees were blown around so hard, they were practically bent over. I couldn't help but think of everyone who didn't have a warm house to hunker down in. What happened to those people? We're did they go?

We woke up Tuesday morning still with power intact. Daddy walked around the house & except for some fallen branches, our home had stood well in the storm. I couldn't help but feel a smiley feeling in my heart, & think about how lucky we were.

And then at around 7:40 the power went out & it hasn't come back.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still so thankful that we were safe and there was no damage to our home. But I miss things. Things like taking showers & turning lights on. You cried for 5 minutes. "Please fix my TV?" You spent pretty much the whole day turning the light switches up & being surprised when no light turned on.

To remove you from the sadness of no power, I decided to take you to the park. Guess what? Daddy's car didn't have power either. So, we played outside and had a lunch picnic. I read a book while you napped, & encouraged you to read books so I could continue reading once you woke up...no such luck.

I was mostly saving our electronics. I checked Facebook & national grid here & there, but mostly remained unplugged. And then this morning I checked the news stories on the IPad.

I couldn't help but gasp.

The devastation to our beloved coastline brought tears to my eyes. There is sand where grass and r streets once were. There are bricks from the wall strewn everywhere. Houses were taken into the ocean (I find myself wondering if you pink house even exists). My heart aches for Rhode Island & Rhode Islanders & some of our favorite spots in the whole world.

My prayers go out to so many who have lost so much in this storm.

This Halloween just doesn't seem like Halloween.

I love you so,
Mommy