1. Be thankful for what you have. Whether it's family or a house or your health.
2. Now is not the time to be fussy about food or your figure. If you lose power, eat perishables first.
3. If anyone offers you a cup of coffee or a homemade cake, be gracious and just say yes.
4. Try not to complain about small things.
5. Keep your sense of humor. Keep your sense of humor.
6. When possible, reach out to neighbors or family members, even those who are estranged, especially those who are estranged.
7. Follow the directions of your local police or Office of Emergency Management regarding evacuation or staying off the roads.
8. Be grateful to volunteers, out-of-town work crews, firefighters and first responders. If nothing else, wave a happy hello or give them a silent thumbs up or silent applause.
9. Be aware that even on a sunny-blue-sky-day, everyone has some burden they carry. During a storm, these get magnified. Offer a kind word or deed.
10. If you need help, ask for it.
11. Read a book or listen to new music.
12. Play a card game or Scrabble or tell stories.
13. Be patient. Be patient. Be patient.
I wish I could say I did all this and more but I didn't. This is a list written in hindsight. With incredible generosity from my daughter and her husband, we had food, fellowship and the delightful company of children and teenagers. While surveying the damage of approximately thirty large trees and several collapsed structures, an old gazebo and a new day camp song shed, I renewed a friendship with a woman who I worked with in the kitchen. We had not seen each other in three or four years, but it was as if no time had passed. It was uplifting for us both, and the best hug I've had in some time.
I did reach out to estranged family members. And although Halloween was officially canceled in my town, I graciously accepted large bars of organic dark chocolate, peppermint patties, and candy corn...
My mother stayed with us. She continues to surprise me with a random memory or her gift for seeing the good in the darkest moments. She was adamant about getting to vote, so despite an unexpected visit to the doctor for an infection in her leg, despite both her voting place and ours being changed to different locations due to Hurricane Sandy clean-up, all four of us voted.
And today, as the snow started falling, she wandered from room to room in my house, saying how beautiful it looked out of every window, a different story unfolding, within each frame.