Natalie Murphy
My family is no stranger to tragedy. A year and a half ago my husband and I lost a child — a little boy named Marshall, 6 and a half years old.
Now we’ve lost our home. The same home where our children learned to talk and walk. The first place my husband and I lived together that wasn’t an old, small apartment.
We are staying in a hotel in New Braunfels, packed with other evacuees. Everyone is echoing the same sentiment, “It can all be replaced,” but there’s a sadness that’s heavy in the air.
As much as we might tell ourselves that it’s just stuff, it’s a little more than that. Our lives have been forever altered by one massive storm.
There a lot of questions facing people displaced by the storm. This biggest for my family is where do we live now?
While there are homes available for rent in Corpus Christi, there aren’t a lot and many are simply not affordable.
We’re now having to move from a house to a small apartment simply to have a stable place for our children and get them back into school.
Many people from the outlying areas will be facing the same issue. While sitting in an apartment complex office filling out paperwork, my husband and I met a couple from Rockport whose home had been completely destroyed. They had nowhere else to go.
For us, we’re losing the foothold to stability that our young children desperately need. Throwing away entire rooms full of belongings has been like having the wind knocked out of us. Finding out our insurance won’t cover those belongings and that FEMA may not either was worse.
When you lose a child, you feel very alone in the pain. Almost like you’re standing still and everyone is passing you by.
One of the interesting things about this is when we stop and take a look around, it isn’t just us. Our friends, family and neighbors are all in the same situation.
Even minor damages can take a major toll on everyday life.
The Coastal Bend has a long road to recovery ahead of it. Luckily it seems that the communities are coming together and helping one another along.
