Do you have a time in your life that you wish you could forget but are also grateful for getting to experience it? For me that was August 2016. I know that for most people think of it like a written piece of fiction that would never happen to them but for my family and I it was very much real.
The day the flood officially began, we were having lazy day. We made cookies, brownies, and I even watched half of the Titanic. The next morning was when we started seeing water. At first it didn’t look like much so my little brothers where playing in it. When the water started getting deeper than their knees, we started to worry.
Even with the water rising, we never expected it to get in our house. At first we thought we could just wait the water out, but later we learned that was not an option. My parents spent all day watching the water hoping that since the house was above flood level it would save us. Eventually we ended up facing the fact that we were going to flood and ended up on a boat with our three dogs. Since there were so many of us we had to take two separate boats and divide the dogs up.
We got out of the house fine but know we had to find a place to go. We ended up going to a shelter they made inside a church. Many of the people had to sleep outside because there was no room inside so it took us a while to find a place to sit. We stayed there until my mom’s friend came and got us. It felt like it took forever to get to her house but I know it was only a couple of minutes. Eventually we got there and ended up sleeping in their camper.
We are still trying to get back into our house. It has been more than a year now but we are almost done. Even though it was a terrible experience, I am thankful for the opportunity it gave me to learn to appreciate what I have. I will never forget what I have been through and will continue to learn from the important events that I get to witness.