I FOUND BLC DAYBREAK!!!!!

[Mehera]

Bumping this thread up because I would like to know how the poor Daybreak is faring?! Watching this process is half the fun (well, assuming it's still alive!)

[Piper]

I recall recent news from Doc Spock that it's doing quite well and he's considering letting it bloom this fall.

That is, I think he said that. My memory hasn't been all that impressive of late.

Say, Bruce...what is that Dend. growing in your greenhouse next to the vandas?

Julie

[Tmai]

Thanks so much for bumping this thread up, Mehera! There are several of us newbies here that were totally unaware of the exciting story that is unfolding!

Congrats, Diane, on the find! It must be thrilling to be so much a part of this wonderful story.

We all hope Lisa is recovering and rebuilding her home. It is such a shock and a life turning event to return to, or, as in my case, venture out of your closet and view the destruction of the home you love, your neighbors homes, and the familiar things around you. I wish her the best from my heart.

Hoa,
You're mistaken. There is cause to celebrate! Let's enjoy every step of this journey without worrying about the time to complete it, or if it will even complete.Wahoo, to us all!!! And many floriferous returns...

Julie <--- cracking open a really nice bottle of scotch!

You are SO right, Julie! Life is a journey, not a destination. Live and appreciate each day and each step of the way. What an awesome story. Thanks for sharing it with us and keeping us up on the progress of your family orchid.
Do you have any pictures of Blc. Memoria Gladys Young?

Tami

[Piper]

Thanks, Tami!

Lisa isn't back in her home yet. After nearly a year she's still rebuilding. Without much for savings it's been a slow process, even with generous help from family and friends. Luckily she kept her job (with Northrop Grumman) - many lost their's as businesses were wiped out. Part of the struggle in repairing homes is that contractors are stretched far too thin with long wait times for availabiltiy, and the building supply stores have such unprecedented levels of business, they're screwing up the order logistics right and left. It can take two or three scheduled deliveries before they get an order right.

Still, she's been fortunate. She's been living bouncing between a FEMA trailer (in a not nice trailer park - she doesn't like having to go back there alone late at night after working a double shift), her boyfriend's parent's pull-out couch, and a WWII troop ship tied up at the dock, compliments of Northrup Grumman. I'd be bonkers by now. I just hope this coming hurricane season is gentle to that region.

Unfortunately, there are no photos of Blc. Memoria Gladys Young. Lisa's were all lost in the hurricane.* It's a line-bred yellow, full size, I believe. I'll try and find a photo of my grandmother when she was younger. I should have that around here somewhere...

Thanks for your thoughts!

Julie

* This reminded me of a funny story from Katrina. All papers were ruined by the flooding, except some important personal documents Lisa had been working with on the dining room table, just before it hit.

Apparently has her single story house filled with 6' of water, the dining room table floated up, and later back down with the water. The only dry things in the house were those papers atop the table!

[Brutal_Dreamer]

* This reminded me of a funny story from Katrina. All papers were ruined by the flooding, except some important personal documents Lisa had been working with on the dining room table, just before it hit.

Apparently has her single story house filled with 6' of water, the dining room table floated up, and later back down with the water. The only dry things in the house were those papers atop the table!

How odd. Isn't it strange how things like that happen. I wish her well.

Cheers!
BD

[Mehera]

My heart, too, goes out to the people of the Gulf region. My hubby is a forensic civil engineer. He has spent most of the last year being sent to assess properties all along the coast from FL to TX. My role when he's home is to help him get his reports out, so I spend a lot of time scanning documents, attaching photos to reports, etc. It has been shocking to see what the folks in that region were left with, and even worse that there is still plenty there for him to do a whole year later. Next week he's back to New Orleans....

[Piper]

Thanks Bruce!

Yeah, Mehera, such an unimaginable amount of destruction occurred. And with all the sobering news world-wide each day, it's hard to hold too many tragedies in mind at a time. It's like we mentally flush the queue to the most recent events. Yet to think that a region can't even start to recover a year later is truly indicative of the scale of the hardship.

My sister was relatively lucky. Restaurant friends here in Marblehead hosted a charity fund raiser last October. I wanted to make it about more than just my sister, so I contacted a church in her town and said we wanted to divide the proceeds among three families - my sister being one of the three. I asked the church to select the other two (non-denominationally) and process all the checks (allowing a tax deduction for donors).

I've communicated with the other two familes many times, and their stories are heart-wrenching. We raised $1000 for each family in Oct, and then with the continued gifts, were able to send a suprise $200 check to each at Christmas. I also got toys and gifts through another local program I used to work with, for the 6 children in the other two familes. That was so the parents could put the checks towards rebuilding and not worry about Christmas morning.

If anyone is interested I could post the anonymous family stories. Lest we soon forget...

Julie

[Tmai]

It is so wonderful how we help each other out during these times. My family in Springfield (just NW of NO) sent a trailer full of supplies after Ivan. Enough for us and the neighbors for several days! Took them forever to get thru but they came. Tarps, tools, ice, a generator, fuel, food (a huge vat of jambalaya among other things), moral support, and beer! During Katrina they stayed with us and we sent them back with a trailer load of like supplies, except we sent rum instead of beer. Ya gotta help them cajuns cook!

quote Julie "Yet to think that a region can't even start to recover a year later is truly indicative of the scale of the hardship." It is amazing. It's been 2 years since Ivan and we still have almost 1000 folks here still in FEMA trailers. The same is true in other parts of FL from Charlie, Wilma, Frances, and other storms, and also in AL and MS. After Katrina and Rita we had convoys leaving Pens heading east - churchs, radio stations, local clubs, regular Joes, all wanting to help. Those folks helped us out after Ivan, and we felt we needed to help them in return. Made me proud of our community.

quote Julie, "And with all the sobering news world-wide each day, it's hard to hold too many tragedies in mind at a time. It's like we mentally flush the queue to the most recent events." You have to do that or go crazy. We were blessed that our family and friends came through safely; there are many who lost loved ones along with everything else and I cannot fathom their loss. For us and many others, helping those hurt worse than us eases the shock of your own tragedy. For those who haven't been through a hurricane, it's very hard to realize the enormity of it all. It isn't just a "storm". It changes everything - landscapes, neighborhoods, friendships, schools, roads, jobs, the very infrastructure of your city. Even those of us who've lived through one tend to not realize the severity of someone else's after is fades from the news. You have to be there to fathom it. And because it fades from the news so fast, it fades from your thoughts. But folks like Lisa will live it every day for a long time.

Things will never be the same again. No matter how badly you want it, you can't undo what's happened. As the shock begins to lessen, you start looking ahead again and you slowly begin to realize that although things may be different, you did and will live through it and you can grow from it. Although we think it at first, the world DIDN'T stop with disaster (insert disaster name here). And then you let hope happen. I learned this after the death of my mother 11 years ago.

Speaking of hope, where we at on the Blc. Memoria Gladys Young story?

[Tmai]

Any update on the Blc. Memoria Gladys Young story? How is BLC Daybreak doing?
Julie, has Lisa been able to move back into her home? I sure hope so.

[p 1]

wow, i never saw this thread before. what an amazing project, and story.

i don't even know what else to say. thanks for bumping this, so i could see it. all my best to everyone who still has to suffer because of the hurricanes.