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Tamera's Take is about being here.
Are you ready? I am.
I am?
This is a question that I have been asked, and I have asked myself, many times since our arrival in Crucita Ecuador.
Is it everything you thought it would be?
And most recently;
Did you know this could happen?
To these questions I always answer the truth, regardless of who is asking.
For the past 12 days I struggled with the truth. What is the struggle? The struggle is that I am caught between the need to tell the truth; the need to not terrify our family and friends any more than they have already been terrified; the need to be respectful of the people who are probably in the worst situation of their life; and my own belief of what is the truth.
So here are some truths:
If you have not read any of my previous entries, this would normally be the place where I talk about something that happened to me in my childhood. I try to tie it into whatever my point is for that blog, and then add a few pictures to keep it interesting. Props. That is what I do. I use props. It seems necessary because I am not a writer. My husband is the writer.
There will be no correlation between my youth and present day events. There will be no cute pictures of cats. Strangely, I struggle with that too.
I am writing as much for me, as I am for you.
Since the earthquake (terremoto) occurred, I felt every emotion humanly possible.
Each time that we were faced with something that we were not sure how to handle, I had to force myself to remain calm.
The phrase, "remember to be thankful for what you have, because someone else may have it worse than you", could not have been more true. Except that I did not feel thankful.
It is important to not just remember, but know that 600+ people lost their lives; 12,000+ people were injured; 26,000+ people are homeless and slept in the streets until shelters could be erected.
What I felt was guilty. Guilty that I reside in town that was left standing, while to north, east and south of me lies complete destruction and tragedy. Guilty that the only person from Crucita who died as a result of the earthquake, lived about 200 yards from me, and I never met her. Guilty that we are okay due to the help of a lot of Ecuadorians, yet we are unable to do anything to help others in need.
That kind of emotion is not any good to me or others. I know it.
I have to live with the fact that as much as I want to, I cannot help anyone. We do not have a vehicle to pick up or deliver donations. We do not speak or understand enough Spanish to communicate with people. A lot of aid has come into the country and the people of Ecuador are moving forward. Help is needed. Just not MY help. A tough reality to face.
I cannot say for others but it seems to be for me. Not that things are normal. They are not. But life is starting to feel normal again.
There is a tiny vacant lot in between our house and the tienda (Frema's) where we shop. We walked through the lot this morning and for the first time in two weeks I actually felt like taking pictures. I included a few in this post.
Did I know this could happen? Yes.
Did I think it would happen? Of course not.
That is the truth.
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©2016 TJ & Tamera Overman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ReUse by permission only.
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