Giving the present to the future
Hazelwood Avenue in Waynesville
No book review today. Instead, some words about the importance of words — yours.
If you’re reading these words and live in Western North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, or parts of Georgia and South Carolina, then you survived the Great Flood of 2024.
Maybe you lost a vehicle, your home, your business or your job. Or maybe you’re one of the lucky ones who lost only power or water, but otherwise came through the rains and Helene unscathed. Whatever the case, you witnessed a catastrophe that delivered death and destruction on an epic scale.
The cataclysm of rain and wind that ravaged your neighborhoods, towns and coves is fading from the national news, yet you’re still dealing with the effects of floodwaters, fallen trees and landslides. You’re shoveling gunk out of a friend’s living room or your own, babysitting grandchildren while Mom and Dad are looking for work, volunteering long hours to help others still in need of food, water, medicine and shelter. Many of you doubtless feel exhausted much of the time, and that fatigue is justly earned. When routine is so violently ripped apart, when all hell breaks loose and the normal becomes the abnormal, simply getting through each day can be a major accomplishment.
But here’s one important item you might add to your to-do list. Consider spending some time each day, however brief, recording your personal experiences of the Great Flood.
I’m a lover of the written word, so I would recommend putting down your recollections and thoughts on paper or on your computer. If you dislike writing, make a video or audio recording of what you’ve witnessed or heard from others. Take your memories of the good, the bad, and the ugly — heroism, neighbor helping neighbor, cruelty if you witnessed cruelty — and turn those memories into words. Do it now, while those memories are still fresh.
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Our feelings and impressions often tumble about inside our minds, jumbled up as a child’s toy box. Writing out those feelings and events, or speaking them aloud, can bring understanding, shape and order to this personal history.
Moreover, this inventory of memories can deepen a sense of gratitude for others. That stranger who funded and sent a trailer load of desperately needed food and water to Swannanoa, that man in Weaverville who worked 24 hours straight to remove the muck from the water treatment plant, that Asheville couple with a generator who cooked meal after meal for their neighbors: these are people I know who won the appreciation of others. When we write or otherwise record these deeds, we grow our own gratitude.
These same inventories of charitable acts can also serve as reminders of community and what that means. In an age of political acrimony, Hurricane Helene bonded together people from all backgrounds and beliefs. Later, when you return to them, your words can serve as a reminder of what’s truly essential in your relationships with others.
Finally, this account of what you’ve undergone, however brief or bare of description, will be a gift for your descendants. These as yet unborn men and women may read some narrative about the Great Flood in the mountains or watch some documentary or movie about it, but more importantly, they’ll have your story at their fingertips.
Those future generation need to know that story. My family members and friends in places like Asheville, Waynesville, Banner Elk and Swannanoa have recounted all sorts of tales of hope, of helping hands, of love of neighbor for neighbor just as the Old Book recommends. These narratives and anecdotes make all of us better human beings. Your stories will do the same for those who come after you.
Bits of How-To Advice
Write or speak in our own voice. You’re not back in high school writing an essay for your sophomore English class. Don’t worry about usage and grammar. Tell what you saw and what happened to you in your own words.
Devices like otter.ai allow you to simultaneously record your stories while making a transcript of them. Come up with a general outline of your story to help keep you on track, figure out how to use Otter or some other program, and start.
Make this slice of history a family project. Everyone from youngest to oldest will have different impressions of the disaster. Get them involved, and you’ll not only have a fine account to leave future generations, your family members may also find healing in the process.
Organizations might consider keeping records as well. Many churches, for instance, stepped up in the immediate wake of the flooding to lend assistance to all who needed it. An account of their charity and labor might inspire congregants a century from now to help others.
And of course, put whatever you have written or spoken in a place that neither fire nor flood can touch.
Here’s your chance to leave an invaluable legacy to the future.
(Jeff Minick reviews books and has written four of his own: two novels, “Amanda Bell” and “Dust On Their Wings,” and two works of nonfiction, “Learning As I Go” and “Movies Make the Man.” This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)
