December 2-4

"You'll remember how hard you work today for the rest of your lives."  I told them.  And I believe they will.

I remember sandbagging in the floods of 1983 when I was 11 years old.  The winds of 2011 will hold their own place in Utah history, I'm sure.  I fed them a big breakfast and bundled them tightly before sending them out the door for the appointed meeting time.  The school district had canceled school and everyone who was able was meeting at the church at 9:00 a.m. so they could help those with the most pressing needs.  (It reminded me of the good old days when school was let out during the harvest so kids could help on the farm.)  Our boys worked tirelessly until sundown, 9 hours later.

I helped our immediate neighbors as our young ones stayed busy gathering sticks into buckets.  There was talking and laughing around the neighborhood as men, women and children worked side by side.  A feeling of hope, gratitude and joy permeated the pine scented air.  There was not one home that wasn't affected yet everyone was working for the good of the whole, putting their own needs on the back burner.  This, I thought, is the reason we will never leave this neighborhood.  Neighbors helping neighbors, friends helping friends.  A small glimpse into heaven.

Saturday was a day for our yard.  We gathered scattered shingles, stacked broken fence and hauled tree limbs and logs up the steep incline to a waiting trailer.  Every muscle in our bodies screamed by nightfall but sleep came quickly and soundly.

Sunday morning in Sacrament meeting an announcement was made that a high winds storm warning was issued for late that same afternoon.  Churches of all faiths were cancelled that day in response to a request by Governor Gary Herbert to aid in clean up in an attempt to secure all debris from the previous storm before the next one hit.  Our ward was not cancelled and it seemed the longest 3 hours of my life as I waited restlessly for the moment we could get home and put work gloves on.

The community response was overwhelming.  The National Guard was called in to aid in the clean up but there seemed very little need for them as neighborhoods helped neighborhoods and cities helped cities.

I was especially touched by a father and his blind teenage son that I saw at the designated dump site.  They worked side by side on a trailer until it was emptied and then the father would lead his boy to the next trailer, put his hands on the tree limbs and they would continue.  Everyone was working.

It was another day full of smiles and kindnesses.  The Mayor later issued a letter thanking the community for doing in 8 hours what would have taken the city months.  While the landscape in our neighborhood has definitely changed I would argue that it's for the better.  Fences have come down, not just literal ones.  There is a strong tie between those who have experienced something of this magnitude together.  We have lost worldly goods in exchange for lasting relationships and memories that will last longer than the most deeply rooted trees, longer than the strongest of brick homes.  They will last an eternity.