We part ways after dinner. Jen and her husband go back to their kids, I take mom home with me. Mom's big bag goes with Jen in the Blazer. We'll meet up tomorrow at Grandma's.
My wife's been prepping the house, and getting our things ready for the five and a half hour drive north. Mom talks a little about the past few days. Like her, I'm starved for information.
She'd spent an entire day roaming around with her friend J trying to find out where my father's body was. He'd been moved from the hospital, but since there were no communications, checking the possible options meant driving to each of them and banging on doors.
J bears special mention - prior to the storm, I'd known that her house was in a low area, and that her extended family was sheltering with them. After the storm, I'd feared the worst.
I should have known better. This woman goes to mass every day, and is a force to be reckoned with. Not a drop of water in her house. By the time my mom needed a ride to the airport, J's house had power and running water. Anyone who came to their house was fed, and she was doing laundry for eight families. J and her husband drove my mom to Mobile on back roads. They sidestep everything from traffic to washed out highways and put my mom on a plane.
Some way, somehow - these people are going to know how much I appreciate them.
We get home and it's too late for much of anything. Light conversation, mom takes a peek at my son, and we all turn in. My wife's gotten everything under control, made arrangements I haven't even begun to think about. Nothing to do but sleep.
Sometime in the middle of the night, I'm awake just noticing how loud the world has become. I can hear my boy snoring softly down the hall. Below us, mom sleeps in the guest room dad put in, I can hear her coughing.
After a few minutes, she stops. My wife shifts next to me.
I lie awake for a long time.
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