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