Update: 3/5 Rice Reunion, Grandpa Eating Popsicles, and Cora at Peak-Accessory

Once again this will be very short because I am fried and must sleep, but there is both so much and so little to cover. What I can tell you in short, here at 11:45 p.m., is that my brother was able to pick up my parents earlier today and they are together and safe and dry at his condo in The Heights with all 3 dogs.

I cried off and on all morning knowing they were reunited. I know they all felt the same. I just feel like we can finally breathe again. We don't know the status of their house, though we know their surrounding neighborhoods and our childhood home of Kingwood are just devastated right now and under many, many feet of water. My high school has several feet of water and all the roads leading to our neighborhood are deeply underwater.

I also know that my parents and Eric are together and safe and dry at his condo, so I'm just sticking with that.

I have much to tell you, having finally heard the whole story of their rescue by strangers on the side of the road and the impact those unknown good Samaritans had on all 5 of us. I have thoughts on the devastation in Houston and my hometown; the damage, the families rescued (and then, in two cases of friends, rescued again when their shelters flooded a few hours later), the long timeline to rebuild, the cleanup involved before rebuilding is even a possibility. My heart bursts at the stories of neighbors helping neighbors and strangers helping strangers.

Kingwood High School

The place I grew up is drowning. My parents house is drowning. I've been drowning in news updates and twitter feeds since Sunday.

But also in those news updates are calls for help that are answered and videos of people being rescued by civilians with boats and no other plan but to "help wherever they could." It's overwhelming.

Two partners I worked with at my old firm in Austin reached out with heartfelt and sincere offers of assistance. A guest house with an acre of land for the dogs to run in Austin and a "can I come pick them up? Let me know and I'm on my way." A home owned but currently empty and offered up to them for as long as they need. And I know they meant every word, including the driving 3 hours to go get them. I received similar offers from friends all around Houston, including many I hadn't seen in 10 years. I just kept crying all morning, not so much because my parents needed the help, but because it was offered so instantly and freely and sincerely.

I was, and am, simply overwhelmed.

Separately, my grandpa is improving rapidly. It was like at the exact moment I was having to ignore hospital updates in lieu of flooding ones, the hospital updates become less critical. The universe let them intersect and one take precedence.

They pulled his breathing tube over the weekend and he's been breathing on his own and talking ever since. He's eating popsicles now. He's getting physical therapy to get him up and walking (in limited fashion) as soon as possible. He's uncomfortable and stubborn and getting all the questions right on Jeopardy. He is, in the words of his doctor, "an inspiration" and recovering at "mach speed." He's still in ICU, but could be out in 2 days, and then on the long road of PT and recovery (most of it hospital-based). There are still risks, but he is firmly on that long road of recovery. It is a miracle. I am so thankful. I am overwhelmed.

Cora's good too. She loves her 3x princess bandaid "treatment" and I'm pretty sure still has no idea what happened while she was screaming bloody fucking murder over having to lie down on a hospital bed. Stitches remain a foreign concept. She gets them out Friday. James is taking her.

This, at least, is not overwhelming. I will be at yoga, he will deal, Cora will probably remain calm the whole time because that's how this works.

It's 11:58 and I'm determined to publish this before midnight. Thank you again, from the bottom of my heart for your comments. On a day when I can't tear myself away from the internet, your intermittent "new messages" with comments were such a bright spot. Thank you thank you, more later.

xoxo, LL