I held Abby on my chest as the light slowly swayed above us. Outside the wind howled, branches hit the windows.  The rain fell sideways. 

It was the largest storm the Northeast has ever seen. Side to side, it was twice the size of Texas.

The lights flickered and went out. We were prepared, we lit candles and a fire in the fireplace and gave the kids their flashlights.

Casey had the toughest time with all of it, which we expected.  But the kid is tough. He hid his head under some blankets and pillows and when asked how he was doing, this is the answer we’d get:

Lance sat out in the garage and cooked up what food we were trying to save on a camper grill, I played on my phone until it died. Abby wandered around like a badass. Nothing phases her. She also couldn’t hear the wind, so I’m sure that helped.  We played games and told ghost stories. (The ghost stories were a TERRIBLE choice.) We went to bed. The kids slept on the couches and on a mattress on the floor in front of the fire, Lance, Abby and I slept on the pullout bed in the front room. The mattress we put down will later serve as a small miracle (stay tuned for part 2!).

sucks having to cuddle in the dark. so much.

We woke in the morning to the sun. The house was fine. Few branches, a lot of leaves, no big deal. Casey freaked out for a couple of hours Tuesday morning, but he only was doing what my insides were screaming to do as well. I think instead of being shell shocked or whatever, he just gets all of the fear, the relief, the EVERYTHING out and then leaves it.  I think it’s a lot healthier than we give him credit for.

We took a drive on Tuesday afternoon to see what the rest of our area looked like. We are grateful that the storm wasn’t as bad as forcasted for us, but are SUPER sad for all of the people who have lost so much in this storm. Whole homes were swept into the sea just a couple of miles down the road from us.  The historic and beautiful Coast Guard House had so much damage that they say it will have to be condemmed.

When Casey was worried during the storm and in the morning after, we told him that the National Guard was coming to help keep us safe, and that the utility crews would get our power back on. So as we drove around, every time he’d see either of those groups, he’d roll down his window, give a thumbs up or point and say, “HEY! I love you! I love you SO MUCH!” The National Guard gave a thumbs up back to him from their Humvee.

 We got our power back on less than two days later…that has it’s own just FANTASTIC story. You’ve already seen it if you follow me on Instagram (mostlytruestuff), so, sorry. Spoiled. Anyways, stay tuned for that. Keep praying for those affected here in Rhode Island but especially further south along the coast. We were fortunate, others were not. Please pray and donate where you can.