After the Disaster

by Jessica McCurdy Crooks

Liv Fun: Vol 3 – Issue 3

As a young girl growing up in Jamaica, I experienced firsthand the destruction of Hurricane Gilbert, a massively powerful storm that ravaged much of the Caribbean in 1988. Now, 25 years later, the announcement of an approaching hurricane still fills me with dread.

Like most of the young people of that tiny island in the Caribbean, I was initially excited at the prospect of experiencing a hurricane. The whole idea seemed like a grand adventure waiting to happen.

If I had known what was to come, I would have been content just to hear once more the story my mother tells of her baby brother being placed in a suitcase during Hurricane Charlie in 1951. Stashing the babe in the suitcase was the only way that my grandparents could keep him safe from the elements as their home was battered by high winds.

For me, there was no suitcase.

Hurricane Gilbert produced a staggering 19-foot storm surge on the coast and brought up to 32 inches of rain in the mountainous inland areas of Jamaica. The resulting flooding and mudslides killed 49 people on my island and left behind billions of dollars in devastation.

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Liv Fun

by Leisure Care
Autumn 2014
View Table of Contents

Before the Storm
by Sue Peterson

No one likes to think about the possibility of her husband passing away. Yet statistics tell us most women will end up single at the end of their lives. Taking the time to get your affairs in order while both spouses are alive and well will go a long way toward creating security and confidence for the entire family.
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After the Disaster
by Jessica McCurdy Crooks

As a young girl growing up in Jamaica, I experienced firsthand the destruction of Hurricane Gilbert, a massively powerful storm that ravaged much of the Caribbean in 1988. Now, 25 years later, the announcement of an approaching hurricane still fills me with dread.
Read More

Gone Missing With Mom
by Tammy Kennon

Ten of us sit around a large wooden dining table at the assisted living home where my mom lives now. She suffers from Lewy Body Dementia, a form of dementia with characteristics of both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. At the time she was diagnosed, she was living alone, still driving herself to church and the grocery store. That was just over a year ago.

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