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Be Strong For Nebraska


I was awakened the other night by howling winds in our area. My dog was frightened and woke me up. I told myself it was nothing, I had lived in Nebraska, and I had been through windier days than this one. Little did I know that very night, Nebraska, my former home, was being hit hard with a devastating blizzard, referred to as a "bomb cyclone," and was experiencing road closures, freezing, and flooding of disastrous proportions across the state.

As I saw pictures coming in across social media and from friends, I was saddened by the destruction and devastation that was sweeping across the great state of Nebraska. It's difficult to see towns I had visited with friends or roads I took to work, or even highways I'm sure I drove on...destroyed, underwater, and chunks of ice lying in pastures where cattle were supposed to be grazing. Instead, cattle were running for their lives, as ranchers struggled to round up cattle that were the very essence of their livelihoods. When I looked on social media, I saw cries to the country for help, and it seemed no one was answering. With over 3,700 Twitter followers myself, I felt like I could at least help in this small way...get the word out that Nebraska needs help.

Now, I lived in Nebraska for 8 years, five years in central Nebraska and three years in eastern Nebraska, and it is not like a Nebraskan to ask for help. If you are reading their posts on social media, you see they are saying they are tough, they are strong, they will get through this...and they are all of those things and more. They are the strong, silent types....the ones who go out and work in the fields or at their jobs 12-15 hours a day with no complaints. When I lived there myself, I was up by 7:00 am every day and in bed no earlier than 1:00 am. There were things to do, and I had to get them done. 

Picture courtesy of Pixabay.com


That's another thing about Nebraskans. They aren't going to pass the buck to someone else. They are going to roll up their sleeves and get to work, and they may fall asleep on their feet...but they will get it done. But, even the strong need a chance to be weak. They need someone to catch them when they fall, to be awake when they sleep standing up, to be strong and work hard for them when they can't go any longer.

Nebraska right now is in a state of disaster. The thing with disasters, like other emergencies, is that people are filled with adrenaline and their bodies are in survival mode as the disaster is happening. They are pushing themselves so hard to make it through, that they don't feel how tired they are...and how much they need help. Their bodies and their psyches are being pushed to their limits. Their water supply and sewage systems are destroyed. Their healthcare systems are inaccessible, and all of the minor problems seem so small, but other problems are magnified. There are issues we can't even see in pictures, that we can't even imagine, as they deal with crisis after crisis hour after hour.

I was so fortunate to be taken in by the good people of Nebraska and made to feel like one of them (within a matter of weeks actually), during a stormy time in my life. They were strong for me, and they are strong for the rest of the nation - whether we realize it or not. But, now, now is the time for our nation to be strong for Nebraska. It takes a lot for them to tell the rest of the nation that they need our help. Let's show them that we are there to walk beside them. 

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