The Cleanup

After the windstorm, most of the neighborhood was able to get roads and driveways cleared enough for life to function. There was still a ton of work left to do, though. Huge piles of branches and trees lined the streets to (hopefully) be taken by the city to the landfills. Who knew how long that would take to clear, though...

Fast forward to Sunday. I was sitting in Sunday School when my phone started blowing up with texts and calls from Rob and Jeff saying that their church wards had cancelled meetings and were out cleaning up the neighborhoods because another storm was on its way! Seeing as Rob was in our stake, I went to the bishop's office and shared the news with him. Within minutes, he had called the Stake President and we were all leaving classes to fill the chapel for instructions. Everyone was to go home, change their clothes, and come back with trucks, trailers, chainsaws, or whatever would help to clean up the neighborhood. Numerous dumping sites had been established around the area in open fields to accommodate all the branches and debris, we just had to get them there. Everyone left the building somewhat stunned-- this had never happened before. We went home, changed our clothes, and went to work...

As amazing as the effects of that storm were, they were nothing compared to the overwhelming site of so many people working together to get the neighborhood clean. Young and old, members and nonmembers were out moving branches, driving trucks, filling trailers, and wielding chainsaws. I can't even begin to describe how moving it was to see.

We all worked really hard that day. Numberless trips to the dump sites, hours and hours of cleaning, countless amounts of debris removed... and nobody complained. In fact, all I could see were smiles. Everyone worked together to help each other out. We were united in a goal, a purpose, a cause. Nobody started on their own homes either. Everyone moved to help their neighbors first. When everything was cleaned up in other yards, I went to my house to take the remains from my despised tree that I had cut down. When I pulled in front of my house, however, it had already been cleaned and hauled away. Absolutely amazing.

You'd like to hope that nothing like this ever happens again. You never want to see destruction like that to your home, and I'm not talking about your house either. This area, this neighborhood is our home now. Our neighbors are our family. And I never want anything to happen to my family. But if something does happen again, which inevitably it will, I know that we'll band together and everything will be alright. It's good to be home.