The Aftermath of Maria - Day 16

It’s Friday, October 6th. There’s no power and no water. We are packing everything so it’s ready to move out when we return for our things. Jason has been talking to Robin at DXC and learns that she has managed to get us a rental car in Dallas. We are leaving our car keys and condo keys with Luis. We hope to return soon to retrieve our things and ship our car to the mainland.

We have so much to figure out once we get back to civilization. It seems that everything in our lives is now a huge question mark. I really don’t think about the future stuff. We have been far too busy thinking about surviving day to day and getting the hell out of here. We are so close. Neither of us is letting our guard down until our feet touch Florida. There are about a million things that could go wrong between now and that moment. We are still very much in survival mode.

We invite Pierre, Yadira, and kiddos up to our condo. Pierre is in marketing. I show him some of my art and tell him I’d love to work with him once I’m back on my feet and ready to market my work. We give Pierre and Yadira all of our food and water and our propane stove. We will leave our fan outside their door in the morning (we still need it overnight). We encourage them to take whatever they can from our things and get it to folks who need it. We say our goodbyes and give hugs.

Tonight feels like Christmas eve. Tomorrow we will have access to the Internet when we arrive in San Juan. It’s been 18 days. I tell myself I’m not turning my phone on until we are checked in and through security. That is my big Christmas present. And I’m still not celebrating victory over Hurricane Maria until my feet touch Florida.