09/19/2023
In 2017, I wrote a post about how the hurricane may make Fort Myers Beach uninhabitable based on the forecast.
The hurricane ended up changing directions and made landfall near Tampa. I think in Sept 2022, I thought the same thing might happen again.
A few days or even the day before, it was again aiming towards Tampa, until it wasn't.
The entire day of the hurricane I was glued to the news, social media, ANYTHING to find out information about what it looked like, where it was, how people were doing...
It just kept getting worse and worse:
We watched as street cameras became submerged.
We saw houses and cars floating down the streets.
We saw the water rise and rise and rise.
When we were actually
able to see the aftermath and the first shots of the pier, I just broke down crying.
I couldn't believe the place I walked every year since birth no longer existed.
The place I went with my grandparents, parents, and brother.
The place I shared with other family and so many friends.
I watched the footage for days. Seeing one place after another, what survived and what didn't.
Finally, in some drone footage, I was able to see that our condo was still standing.
And I just sobbed because at least there was a chance we could go back one day.
The houses that were next door to our building didn't exist anymore.
All that was left was sand and what looked like sticks coming up from the ground.
We are very fortunate that our place is going to be okay and hopefully in 2024 we will be able to go back.
However, there are so many stories of individuals who were in the area either in FMB, Sanibel, or Captiva.
There are other stories of those who didn't make it and the loved ones who had to go through all of it at the same time.
I know how lucky my family and I are to have something so wonderful to make it so emotional to see it devastated.
And most importantly, how fortunate we are to be safe and have a home.
I wrote "Winter Break at the Beach" days after the hurricane.
There were so many times in this process of publishing that have made me emotional, like right now, or when Cecilia gave me the illustrations.
I’m grateful to be able to dedicate this book to many people.
So today, 9/19 our ebook is free. Today we are looking for honest reviews of our book.
Reviews may seem unimportant but it is a lot of individuals deciding factor.
Please, if you have a moment today, download “Winter Break at the Beach” and write an honest review on Goodreads or Amazon.
This year we will be able to give to the community because of this book, and that is one of my biggest motivations.
Helping the community that always has made the area feel like home for the holidays.
Here is the link to the "Winter Break at the Beach" ebook:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CHZTBXYP
or go to https://thepassagepress.com/fmb for more information about the book.
