Today makes 13 years to the day of one of the most amazing turning points in my life...Hurricane Andrew...it blew in from the Atlantic over my hometown of Cutler Ridge/Homestead and absolutely leveled it...what's amazing about that is that overnight the lives, the futures, the influences, plans, intentions, and destinies of entire communities were drastically and radically affected...
To anyone who lives or used to live in the area, life came to be known as Before Andrew and After Andrew...to this day, people ask me if I was there for Andrew when they find out that I am from Miami...I remember walking out after the storm subsided at 6am and feeling like a bomb had gone off...everything that we owned in this world was destroyed...there was an unnerving feeling of desperation like you truly did not know where to start or what to start with...did you clean up the mess? did you walk away? did you bother crying? or was it so big that you were just better off counting your losses and driving away?...we did not leave, we cleaned up the mess and kept going...in hindsight, that was the biggest earthly mess that I've cleaned up so far...the amazing part is that I have managed to get myself into messes since then...that make me long for the Hurricane Andrews as they would be easier to fix...
These days I stand facing north with a sense of anticipation and excitement...this last year has been the most trying that I have ever faced...I have been the happiest, the saddest...felt the proudest one moment and the most disappointed the next...I have been on an emotional roller coaster that would rival anything on Islands of Adventure...and after a while you'd be willing to give up the highs of the ride to take away the lows...no sob story here though...Love saves the day...I have experienced the love of friends and family in such a real, strong, and special way, that I can honestly say that I am excited about the future again, more excited about certain things than other but those are for a different post on a different day...this entry I dedicate as a "Thank You" to those in my life who have redefined the word "Friendship" to me, and to the ones who have made me feel like dreaming again, to quote a song from the Judds..."Love can build a bridge, between your heart and mine, love can build a bridge, don't you think it's time? don't you think it's time..." Love is a mighty thing...mightier than any 160MPH Hurricane....
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