News

NEW BERN'S SUN JOURNAL - LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Opinion

OPINION, Marc Harris: Goodwill, endurance will ‘get us back home’

By Marc Harris | For the Sun Journal
Posted Oct 25, 2018 at 2:01 AM

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This article is an opinion piece that was published in New Bern’s Sun Journal, written by Marc Harris. We are proud to have made to news, but even more proud to have made such an impact on Marc’s life!

As a victim of hurricane Florence, having been devastated by flooding and losing both cars and almost all of our possessions and becoming instantly homeless, I have during the past few weeks, to steal from Clint Eastwood lore, been witness close-up and much too personal, to “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.”

It is amazing how tragedy brings out both the best and the worst in people. The good I have seen, from neighbors helping neighbors, church groups and all sorts of Good Samaritans helping anyone they could; charitable foundations being set up solely for this disaster, and most of all the contractor who my family was blessed to find, Mr. Mike Mullis, whose compassion, spirituality and honesty (which is mirrored by every member of his team that we have met) has given a comfort to not only my family but also the countless others that they have and shall continue to assist in, to use his words, “get us back home.”

The bad is everywhere you look, on the front page of the New York Times, on CNN, and most powerfully, right in front of our very own eyes: the downed trees, the endless piles of people’s lifelong possessions mixed in with furniture, carpeting, ductwork, etc., lining the streets of our neighborhood, Fairfield Harbour, and countless other neighborhoods. Toys, stuffed animals, photos, things that insurance can never replace.

The ugly may be the worst of all. The price-gouging, the looting -- not only from businesses but from homes, including my own, where things clearly put out to dry were stolen by passersby. They cared nothing about the pain and suffering it took for each of us to have to put these possessions out in a yard, hoping something might be salvaged, and knowing all too well that our lives would never be the same. Then the repair-scammers swoop in, preying on the elderly and the naïve, via internet, telephone and even door to door.

We all have been affected by this tragedy to differing degrees. Many new friendships have been born out of shared suffering, and much lingering hardship, too. I pray that each of us finds the closure we need and that, together, New Bern and every other city and town affected by Hurricane Florence will grow to be stronger than ever, both in physical structure and community kinship and spirit.

How tragedy brings out both the best and the worst in people. The good I have seen, from neighbors helping neighbors, church groups and all sorts of Good Samaritans helping anyone they could; charitable foundations being set up solely for this disaster, and most of all the contractor who my family was blessed to find, Mr. Mike Mullis, whose compassion, spirituality and honesty (which is mirrored by every member of his team that we have met) has given a comfort to not only my family but also the countless others that they have and shall continue to assist in, to use his words, “get us back home.”

The bad is everywhere you look, on the front page of the New York Times, on CNN, and most powerfully, right in front of our very own eyes: the downed trees, the endless piles of people’s lifelong possessions mixed in with furniture, carpeting, ductwork, etc., lining the streets of our neighborhood, Fairfield Harbour, and countless other neighborhoods. Toys, stuffed animals, photos, things that insurance can never replace.

The ugly may be the worst of all. The price-gouging, the looting -- not only from businesses but from homes, including my own, where things clearly put out to dry were stolen by passersby. They cared nothing about the pain and suffering it took for each of us to have to put these possessions out in a yards, hoping something might be salvaged, and knowing all too well that our lives would never be the same. Then the repair-scammers swoop in, preying on the elderly and the naïve, via internet, telephone and even door to door.

We all have been affected by this tragedy to differing degrees. Many new friendships have been born out of shared suffering, and much lingering hardship, too. I pray that each of us finds the closure we need and that, together, New Bern and every other city and town affected by Hurricane Florence will grow to be stronger than ever, both in physical structure and community kinship and spirit.