Cinco Ranch 1 October 2017

Krenek Printing sends our thoughts and prayers to everyone affected by Hurricane Harvey. As residents of the communities
we serve, we are deeply saddened by the mass flooding and destruction brought to homes, businesses and property. We will
continue to provide personalized subdivision newsletters with information from neighborhood management, surrounding
community groups, and local relief information to support the cleaning, rebuilding, and recovery of the communities in the
wake of Hurricane Harvey. In the story below, a local resident shares what she believes makes our communities amazing…
people willing to help each other by showing one another generosity, community, kindness and humanity. Krenek Printing
agrees that YOU are what makes this city great and we are proud to be part of your local community each month.
Hurricane Harvey and Houstonians
by W. Baecke, Cypress Resident
On August 26th, as I ushered
my students out of class with a
cheerful “See you next week,”
many remarked that school
would be closed due to flooding
so they would not see me next
week. I chuckled while advising
them to stop wishing for the
return of summer vacation and
not to forget their assignments
due Monday. After 4 days of rain,
flooding, and the constant reports
of more destruction on the news,
I was feeling foolish at my lack
of respect for the weather, guilty
that my house was dry when
friends and family only miles
down the road had lost everything,
and generally disheartened
at Houston’s situation. The more
I watched the news broadcast the
devastation, viewed social media
with awful stories of anger and
hate, and began to take inventory
of what it would take to get my
life back to normal, I felt bitter,
annoyed and grumpy. Thankfully,
an eventful trip to the local pharmacy,
helped me see a different
view of the situation.
After 4 days of rain with a sick
baby, I was out of baby fever
reducer. With frazzled nerves, my
fevered, fussy 1-year-old hanging
off my hip, and my 7-year-old
complaining about the outing in
general, a young man approached
us and asked if I needed help. It
was clear he didn’t work for the
store as he was not in uniform
and didn’t have on a name tag,
but he could see I was having
trouble locating what I needed
on the bare shelves while juggling
the kids, diaper bag, pacifier, etc.
As he helped me find the last
bottle of off-brand infant pain
reliever, I silently prayed my
oldest daughter, who was quietly
staring down the young man with
furrowed brow, would not ask
any loud, inappropriate questions
about his long hair, dark nail
polish, or pants that did not sit
anywhere near his waist.
As he helped me look for the medicine,
we made small talk and he
disclosed that his family had been
rescued a few hours before and he
was thankful to be safely staying
at a relative’s home until he could
get back to his house to assess the
damage. This whole encounter
took less than 3 minutes. I thanked
him profusely and we parted ways.
As we drove home, my daughter
began to ask her questions, and
to my surprise, they had nothing
to do with the young man’s
appearance. She wanted to know
how he would get the water out of
his house; how he would know it
was safe to go home and how he
would get there; how he would
get the money to buy more things
if his stuff was ruined; and so on.
She was very concerned for this
young man and his family. I told
her about all the organizations
that were already providing for
people like the man with things
like shelter, food, clothes, and
toiletries. When I looked back,
my daughter was crying. She said
that she was so happy that everyone
wanted to help each other
and that she wanted to help too
by going through her clothes and
toys when we got home.
In that moment, all the negative
feelings I was harboring disappeared.
I was reminded that
doing things for others and being
a decent neighbor is what makes
Houston amazing.
I am thankful that young man
helped me today. His helpful
spirit, despite his desperate situation,
helped remind me about
what is important – people. I
know Houston has a long road to
recovery ahead, but I also know
that Houstonians will take on the
challenge with generosity, kindness,
compassion and love.
While there are so many organizations lending support to the community,
we have listed some reseources for flood victims and volunteering on the following pages.
Cinco Ranch Community Area Newsletter | October 2017 9