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Heartbroken. That’s the only feeling I can describe when I see the images from the Northeast, particularly in my beloved city of New York. It’s surreal to be in Miami, a place known for hurricanes, watching the devastation that could have been ours if the storm decided to turn west a lot sooner. Fortunately, for us our family and friends in New York are safe; they have been spared the catastrophe that greeted so many other people last night and early this morning. For the most part, our loved ones are coming out unscathed. I can’t say the same for countless of people and towns throughout the region.
It’s so easy for a lot of us in Miami and South Florida to be complacent or even cavalier at times like these. We know what it’s like to be without power for over 10 days or what it’s like to wait hours for gas. We know what life after a hurricane feels like. Few of us, however, know what it’s like to watch our entire neighborhood burn to the ground because the flooding made it so difficult for firefighters to make it in time. I can even wrap my mind around something like that.
Many of us talk about Hurricane Andrew and the horrible destruction left in it’s wake. 20 years later, Floridians can still recall, in vivid detail, how their lives changed. It’s as if Andrew was that chapter that spun the plot in a whole other direction. We’ve lived it. And it pains me to know that so many people are living that now.
I sit here somber, staring out the window at a brilliant blue sky. It’s a gorgeous day, but it’s beauty is sightly dimmed for me. I know that I’m one of the lucky ones who got nothing but good news out of an otherwise catastrophic situation. But downtown is still under water and whole swaths of neighborhoods are no longer recognizable. Today I reflect and hope that the Northeast finds the strength it needs to recover and rebuild. Tomorrow will be another day, another step away from a time that 20 years later will still be remembered in vivid detail.
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A few months ago we visited Mike’s old stomping grounds downtown.
We passed by where he used to work and soaked in a bit of the city that we both still love so very much.
Here’s hoping we get it back in all it’s glory.
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Currently listening to: Flesh and Bone by The Killers
Geeky Camera Stuff: Kodak Portra 800 shot on my Mamiya 645AF and Mamiya C220
Love, e
