Nice Try, Hurricane Harvey

Im stranded. Well, kinda stranded.

Thousands of people are actually stranded in and around Houston, the city Im frantically trying to get back to. Except I cant. Im stuck in Utah. A two-day work trip transformed into a full week away from my family and friends. All flights are canceled, because Houstons airports are flooded. Roads have become rivers, so renting a car and driving is out of the question. Roofs have transformed into camp grounds. The preferred method of travel is by boat, mattress, or a lifted F-150. More than 30,000 people will be without shelter. Everything is topsy turvy.

Early last week newscasters and articles were using the words potentially catastrophic to describe the magnitude of the situation (which seemed a little excessive at first), and then they ended up quickly deleting potentially from their vocabulary when Hurricane Harvey actually did become 100% catastrophic. Theyre calling it the 1000 year storm. A zombie hurricane. Theres a .1% chance of this ever happening again. My family needs me, but the most they get is digital Frank. On the phone daddy. The FaceTimeHusband.

My wife and two young children are in Cypress, TX braving this monster without me. And Im here, not able to do ANYTHING. Youve felt that before, havent you? The mixture of frustration and stress that drives you insane? Seriously, the best I can do is clench my fists and refresh Facebook . Im powerless. Drifting, with no influence or ability to help. On Saturday my wife and children spent more than half of their day huddled in a closet, inundated with tornado warnings. One touched down just outside our subdivision.

My daughters 6th birthday is today, August 30th, but I wont be home in time to celebrate. Its physically impossible. The only thing she asked for was me, there on her birthday. I wont be.

She woke up this morning and kissed her arms a few times. When my wife asked her what she was doing, she replied kissing these 5 year old arms goodbye! Adorable, right? I shouldve been there to laugh with them. To hold them in times of panic. To dance, sing, drain the pool do husband/daddy stuff.

But Im here. What feels like a million miles away. Luckily, our home is just fine, the power has been on and they havent been flooded out but theyre stuck too. Just like tens of thousands of other Houstonians trying to hold it together and brace for whats next.

But this isnt about me. Its about you. Its about all of us, and what we do as humans when things like this happen. When tragedy strikes, we become heroic. We join forces and act in a very anti-darwinian manner. We fight to help the helpless . We seek to maintain the survival of all people. We push past our fears and hone in, together, to meet a need .

We ignore everything that usually distracts us, and all the stupid little things that fill in the gaps gets tossed out. Even work stuff especially work stuff. Its all put in its place, off to the side. A distraction set in its corner.

Our focus changes: Family first. People first. Lives over likes.

We havent lost this ability. Contrary to popular belief, our empathy for others hasnt been numbed or dampened by cell phones, Netflix , or video games. When its time for us to pivot away from trivialities, we pivot. Hard. Once the switch is flipped it cant be un-flipped until the deed is done. Its incredible. Humanity, for all its imperfections, instinctively knows when playtime is over.

And I wish more than anything that I could stand alongside you right now and do what needs to be done. Ive seen it on the news, heard it first hand from my family, and read story after story of regular people doing extraordinary things for neighbors theyve never met . A hard pivot into resourcefulness, bravery, and sacrifice. Even if youre not in Houston, there are many ways to help .

Nice try Harvey. You havent broken our spirits youve unleashed our superpowers.

Ill be home soon, ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work. Lemme hug my wife and kids first, then were all yours, Houston.