15 Years Later...We Remember.... 9/11

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Animal Disaster Preparedness Day- By Hilary Grossman

FROM CAT CHAT- Animal Disaster Preparedness Day  2013 was May 8th. When thinking of the chances of a disaster happening to US, we often turn blind eyes and ears thinking that there is NO WAY that this will ever happen to any of us. Well, disasters CAN and DO happen.

When thinking of the importance of conveying this message, my thoughts immediately turned to Hilary Grossman of the blog Feeling Beachie who not only LIVED, but is STILL living the horrors of Hurricane Sandy. I thought it only fitting that Hilary be my guest blogger today, she can  convey the importance of Animal Disaster Preparedness better than I ever could. I am honored to feature Hilary's post:

I originally posted this on November 17, 2012 eighteen days after Hurricane Sandy slammed the beach community that I call home.  Let’s face it, life is so unpredictable.  We never know what tomorrow will bring... We get spoiled.  We never think that a disaster will happen to us or to our pets.  But sadly, sometimes they do. Two years ago I sat at a village meeting about hurricane preparedness.   I barely paid attention, after all, no bad storm would hit us, I naively thought.  But then, later that year as Hurricane Irene approached, we had to evacuate our home for the first time, along with our cat, Alex, who just had his tail amputated.  As a pet owner, I never thought prior about what would happen if a disaster hit.  But I quickly learned you have to be prepared for everything.  We left our home with not only Alex’s necessities (food, litter box, litter locker, medicine, bowls, and important papers) but also blankets and toys that smelled like home to help comfort him in an unfamiliar environment. Despite sharing a house with two dogs, he did great.  I am sure his evacuation was so successful because we properly prepared his “refugee room” to be as home like as possible.  We made it through Irene unscathed.  Unfortunately the year after we wouldn’t be so lucky.....  I learned the hard way, you really have to prepare in advance for a disaster because even though you think you understand what a situation may be like, until you live it you never really know...

Images on television don’t prepare you....

You had a very difficult day.  Nothing seemed to go your way.  You are tired, you are cranky, and you are stressed.  You are so looking forward to relaxing.  You want a break.  Scratch that.  You NEED a break! You put on some comfy clothes and perhaps grab a snack or maybe a glass of wine.  You sit yourself down on your couch remote control in hand.  You aim it at the television and let out a quiet sigh of relief.  Finally you are going to get the break you deserve.

Your favorite TV show is not on.  Instead every channel you select is featuring coverage of a tragic event - brush fire, school shooting, earthquake or hurricane.  You pause and watch.   You feel terrible for those affected.  You vow to make a contribution to help.  Maybe you end up doing it.  Maybe you don’t.  You sympathize with those affected and you feel like you understand their plight.  But do you?

I can tell you first hand, you don’t.  No matter how much you think you can relate to the heart ache and devastation you see on television you can’t until you lived through a catastrophe, like Hurricane Sandy. Trust me, I know…. And I hope that you never have to know….

Images on television don’t prepare you for how helpless you feel as you watch your brother-in-law’s home, the home you evacuated to, fill with over a foot of ocean and bay water within moments.  The images don’t prepare you for the panic and desperation your feel as you and your nieces help your sister-in-law elevate her antique chairs to try to protect them from the gushing water before you all move to another room to try and save her clothing that was on the bottom of her closet.  Keep in mind that all this is happening while the wall to wall carpet begins to sway in the waves.

Images on television don’t prepare you for the fear you feel as you and your husband get into your sister-in-law’s car, because his car was destroyed by the flood, to venture to your home to access your damages.  You know you will find major damages when you get there, but you don’t know how severe they will be, and you are afraid.  You pray that you will find your home where you left it.

As you drive you see images out of a television report.  You see down trees, missing roofs, pieces of boardwalk on people’s front lawn, and sand filling the streets.  While these images are similar to what you have seen previously on television from past catastrophes these images are different.  They are from your home town.   You know the people affected and your heart hurts.

Images on television don’t prepare you for the moment you arrive in front of your own home. If you are lucky your home is still standing.  Your breath hitches in your throat as you slowly open your front door, fearful of what you will find inside.  And when you walk in you wish you could walk right out.  Ocean in your den…. Major flooding in your basement….. Loss of property… Structural damage…. The list goes on and on.

Images on television don’t prepare you for the emotions you feel as you find your friends and neighbors.  You are relieved to see they are physically alright.  You are heartbroken to see that their homes are as devastated as is yours, or maybe even worse.  You hug each other.  You cry.  And sometimes you even find a reason to laugh.

Images on television stop after the major event is over.  It isn’t their fault. No one wants to see old news.  Images on television don’t show the aftermath…. 

No one knows how your days and nights are spent cleaning up and throwing out all your destroyed belongings, in the cold and the dark, as your basement ceiling collapses on your head.  You are covered in dirt, muck, and sometimes sewage.  You feel filthy, but you can’t bear to take a cold shower on a New York November day, so you don’t.   You forget the basic necessities; you forget to take your medicine and brush your teeth.  Day turns to night and back to day again. You lose track of the hours and the days as you try to help your neighbors and friends who are in the same or worse condition as you are.  You share necessities – flash lights, batteries, bottle water, garbage bags, and even a car.  And if someone miraculously has a cell phone that works, you share that too…

You realize who your friends really are, and you see people’s true colors.  Some shock you in a good way, some in a bad way.  Regardless, you know you will never forget these moments, although you really want to.

Weeks pass and life returns to normal that is for most people, but not you.  You are a person who was hit hard.  You may be staying with friends or you may be struggling to stay at home.  Regardless you still are struggling….  You feel a wide mix of emotions.  You are sad and angry that you have to endure this.  You are jealous that others are going about their life as normal.  But you are also thankful that you are okay, and you know that in the future, one day too your life will return to normal….you just hope it happens soon.

Book Review: "Love Saves the Day" by Gwen Cooper

I had no doubt when I sat down to read Love Saves the Day by Gwen Cooper that I was going to love this book. What I wasn't prepared for was just HOW MUCH I would love it, and how much I would FEEL while reading it.

It had been a while since I had read and reviewed another book by Gwen, Homer's Odyssey, and I had forgotten just how much I love Gwen's writing style, her development of characters is superb. She expertly crafts and describes their personalities and idiosyncrasies  in a way that we feel as if we KNOW them. Gwen's  ability to tug at our hearts,  and her ability to take a story plot and weave an intricate fabric of twists and turns, incredible highs and devastating lows are a talent that is unique.

In both Homer's Odyssey and in Love Saves the Day, it is obvious how much Gwen knows and loves her beloved New York.  The title, Love Saves the Day, "was the name of an iconic East Village store (where Madonna trades her pyramid jacket for a pair of rhinestone boots in Desperately Seeking Susan). Gwen says that "the phrase initially captured me as being both iconic of a certain era in New York 's downtown scene and also a great title for a book about the transformative nature of different kinds of love and relationships."


From the Publisher: Poignant, insightful, and funny, Love Saves the Day is a story of hope, healing, and how the love of an animal can make all of us better humans. It's the story of a mother and daughter divided by the turmoil of bohemian New York, and the opinionated, irrepressible feline who will become the bridge between them. It's a novel for anyone who's ever lost a loved one, wondered what their cat was REALLY thinking, or fallen asleep with a purring feline nestled in their arms.

Prudence, who is based on Cooper's own cat Scarlett (who crossed the Bridge a year ago) bore a striking resemblance both physically and in her behavior,  to my Bobo who passed seven years ago. From Gwen: "Scarlett was very aloof and very dignified but also capable of deep affection for the small handful of humans she allowed herself to get close to." Gwen wanted the feline narrator to "have a certain emotional distance from the humans she was observing, so that she wasn't always seeing them through a cloudy haze of adoration. But I also wanted her to be capable of that deep love those of us who love animals experience with the animals we bond with. Scarlett fit that bill perfectly." The above described my Bobo to a tee as well.

My "Bobo" who bore
a striking resemblance to "Prudence!"

Gwen Cooper also has to have an immense passion for the Beatles, as I  do. Their famous song "Dear Prudence" is quoted when Sarah finds Prudence as a kitten, hiding, and Sarah encourages Prudence to come to her by saying: " Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play?"  The Beatle's lyrics telling Prudence to "open up your eyes", "greet the brand new day", "the sun is up, the sky is blue, it's beautiful and so are you" are not a coincidence, it was  a brilliant connection on the part of Gwen. Dear Prudence is saying that all will be fine, to look around, observe the beauty that surrounds you, just as the feline "Prudence" does in Love Saves the Day. The spirit of the song Dear Prudence, and the meaning of the  lyrics of the Beatles classic, are the soul of  Love Saves the Day. Not only did the feline "Prudence" learn to see life without Sarah in a "brand new way" but through her love and wisdom she enabled those around her to do the same.  In my opinion, only a true Beatles fan would appreciate and make this connection.

There were so many thoughts that went through my mind while reading Love Saves the Day, that taken individually, each thought could be shaped to form an endless number of reviews. Love Saves the Day is a book of substance, full of emotion, humor, history,  love... and... yes, sadness. You  will want to dive deep within it's pages and kiss the precious white paws of the sagacious Prudence.  This book has THAT much to offer.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Gwen Cooper is the New York Times bestselling author of the memoir Homer's Odyssey and the novel Diary of a South Beach Party Girl. She is active with numerous animal welfare organizations and is a frequent speaker at shelter fundraisers across the U.S. Gwen lives in Manhattan with her husband, Laurence. She also lives with her three perfect cats-Homer, Clayton and Fanny-who aren't impressed with any of it.

ISBN: 978-0-345-52694-6

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Visit Gwen at www.gwencooper.com
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We will always remember....